


Sector JP

by Gamewizard2008



Category: Bleach, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Friendship, Ghosts, Kids, Romance, Shrinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-09 16:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5547554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamewizard2008/pseuds/Gamewizard2008
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A filler story in the Gameverse Big Mom Saga, <i>Sector JP</i>, or the Sector JP Arc. Karin, Yuzu, Jinta, Ururu, and Kodama are five operatives of Sector JP, from Karakura, Japan. Catch a glimpse of some of their missions and everyday lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Soccer Star Karin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sector JP goes on a mission to retrieve a Yin Yo-yo from Panda Bubba. Afterwards, Karin sets off to do a soccer match. During which, she remembers her meeting with Cheren...

**Friends and acquaintances, welcome to the Big Mom Saga filler story, _Sector JP_! To cool down from the action of _Fairy Sisters_ and _Seven Lights_ , I decided to make this story dedicated to the crossover sector from _Bleach_ (except one who is a _One Piece_ character). Now, I say “filler”, but like _Operation: FAIL_ , I may end up adding some importance. Either way, it’s mostly for character development with the Sector JP members. Enjoy!**

****

**_

Chapter 1: Soccer Star Karin

_**

****

**Sewer hideout in Hong Kong**

The office was cold and filthy under the city sewers. No reasonable human would want to come, let alone attempt to live down here. That’s why it was the perfect hideout for criminals.

A group of six Chinese men, half wearing black suits and half wearing white, entered the office of Panda Bubba, the chubby crime boss whose features matched that of a panda. His scowl narrowed. “Did you find it?”

The guards stepped aside as a fat ninja in a dark-red suit marched up. He bowed and presented a box to Panda Bubba. The crime boss took and opened the box. A yo-yo with a Yin symbol was inside.

“The Yin Yo-yo.” Panda pulled the round device out and stared at it. “One of a pair which can enter the Yin-Yang World. Very good, Tubbimura.” He smirked.

“It is my honor.” The fat ninja spoke. “Master Hannibal will be most pleased.”

“Yes, he will.” Panda rolled the yo-yo up and down. “And once we locate the other one, we will be able to enter the Yin-Yang World and free the Chaos Kin like he said. You know… I was unsure of Hannibal Bean’s leadership at first, compared to Lord Genious… but this plan of his is ingenious. If it succeeds, we may at long last have the upper hand over those Kids Next Door.”

“Should we not be concerned for them, Boss?” a henchman asked. “According to Lord Bean’s information, the Kids Next Door have been keeping close watch on the yo-yos, by order of two legendary spies, Yin Bean and Yang Bean.”

“Yes, I know. Hannibal’s grandchildren learned the secret of the yo-yos and ensured their safety. Which is why I suspect Sector JP their selves will attempt to sneak in here and take them back. That’s why we have strengthened our security.” Panda smirked. “We will secure the Yin Yo-yo before Lord Bean arrives to take it. All of our guards will ask each other passwords to check for spies, as well as secret handshakes, not to mention those finger and tongue scanners we had installed. More importantly, I will keep the yo-yo on me. It will be impossible for any spy to get it. No matter how great Sector JP’s stealth talents are, they will fail miserably. I can only imagine-”

“Ooo! Uh! AH!” One of the guards’ heads was hit twice by some invisible punch-like force, before he flipped on his back. “Oh, ow, AH!” The same happened to another guard.

“What? What are you doing?!” Panda yelled as Tubbimura drew his katana, ready to strike. “Get yourselves together!” The other henchmen scrambled to focus.

“Um, excuse me? May I say something?” a soft and squeaky voice asked.

“Who is there?!” Panda grabbed a gun and searched around panickingly.

“Who are you talking to?” Tubbimura asked.

“I just wanna say that, well, Sector JP isn’t ‘stealth-based’ so to speak. We’re field operatives. But, we’re still a great team, heheh.”

“Show yourself! NOW!” Panda thundered. “Huh?” He moved his eyes together when a tiny red bug landed on his nose. “Off me!” He furiously smacked it off—the bug grew into a skinny girl in a red jumpsuit with a “K” on the chest. She had small blush marks on her face.

“Ah hahahaha.” She blushed and chuckled softly. “Sorry. I guess I’m not even stealthy.”

_

4x4 officer of Sector JP  
URURU TSUMUGIYA (Numbuh Centipounds)

_

_“Boss! Boss, we’ve got trouble!”_ a voice yelled through a speaker on the desk. _“The Kids Next Door! They’re-”_

“WAAAAAH!” That guard flew into the office, across the room, and crashed face-first in the wall behind Panda. They all faced the entrance as a boy stood proudly, holding a giant baseball bat over his shoulder. He had red hair, a white T-shirt, and blue shorts.

“Brotherhood criminals, your tyranny ends here!” The boy pointed accusingly. “Prepare to face the unstoppable power of Jinta Hanakari-”

A soccerball flew from the left and hit Jinta’s head, knocking him away. “DAMMIT, Jinta, you almost killed us when you knocked that wall down!” A girl with short black hair, a black shirt with a yellow cat design, and gym shoes stomped up, looking furious. “The ceiling gave way and almost crushed us!”

_

Leader of Sector JP  
KARIN KUROSAKI (Numbuh 12-0)

_

“We were gonna take forever goin’ around that way!” Jinta stuck his face into hers, both faces pushing the other. “Don’t be pissed ’cause I improvised!”

“You always act without thinking, that’s the problem with you.”

“You’re just jealous because I got here faster than your monster feet could.”

“These feet’ll kick you in the nuts and make you a girl if you ever do that again. Then you’ll finally fit in with us.”

“Really, is that what happened to you?”

“WHAT’D YOU SAY?”

“WHAT ARE YOU CHILDREN DOING?!” Panda Bubba roared. The two scowling kids turned their attention to the room.

“Y’know what, screw this, I just wanna beat these guys and get outta here.” Jinta rushed in and began beating the guards with his bat.

“Not before I beat ‘em!” Karin dashed in and swung a powerful kick at Tubbimura’s belly. The ninja didn’t budge as his flesh wobbled like goo.

“Woooooohh…” The sensation felt odd for the ninja. “That is quite a kick. It would be a shame if you COULD NOT!” Tubbimura sliced his katana down, but Karin kicked away, dropped her soccerball, and kicked it toward him. The ninja ducked and laughed, “Haha! You missed!”

The ball bounced off the wall and hit the back of Panda Bubba’s head. “Oof!” He dropped the Yin Yo-yo forward, and it appeared to float up in the air.

“Take it out of here, Ururu!” Karin ordered.

“I’m on it!” Ururu had shrunken to fly size and was carrying the larger-than-her yo-yo away.

“Stop her!” The guards recovered and rushed to grab the yo-yo, but Jinta used his giant bat to knock them away.

“You despicable girl!” Tubbimura tried to stab Karin, but the girl jumped, stomped the sword to the floor, then jumped to stomp forcefully in the ninja’s flabby face.

“You’re going to jail, Bub.” Jinta stated, readying his bat.

“No, let’s just get outta here.” Karin said. “We got what we came for.”

“Eh, you’re lame, Karin. Why wait later for something that’s RIGHT HERE!” Jinta swung his bat at Bubba-

The crime boss threw a yellowish-brown vest over himself and called, “Two-Ton Tunic!” The vest turned into solid armor that protected from Jinta’s giant bat. The boy’s arms trembled upon the ineffective impact.

“Come on, already!” Karin grabbed his arm and rushed out of the room.

Panda and his henchmen hurriedly chased after them- “OH?” However, it seemed a giant firework was aimed at them from ahead.

A black-haired girl with a blue robe with yellow firework designs smiled brightly as she held a lighter. She had kabuki makeup under her eyes, wore sandals, and wore a red headband with a huge knot. “Say Happy New Year!”

_

Fireworks Expert and Pilot of Sector JP  
KODAMA (Numbuh Chinese New Year)

_

Kodama lit the firecracker, which flew at the gangsters and exploded with smoke. When it uncovered, the criminals were revealed to be trapped in yellow goo. “That’s China’s special sticky cheese!” Kodama winked. “Never doubt our products! Farewell!” She ran after her sector.

“Don’t worry, Sir!” Tubbimura declared. “I shall have this cheese devoured in minutes!” He tried to reach to pull off his ninja mask… but his arms were too stuck to do so. “Ehh… I am conflicted.”

“Ugh.” Panda sighed.

**KND Moonbase**

“Great job retrieving the yo-yo, Sector JP.” Cheren Uno said as he took the small artifact. “I guess Uncle Yang and Aunt Yin were right about them going to take it. We’ll keep it safe here on Moonbase. Do you guys know why they wanted it?”

“I do.” Ururu raised her hand. Without her Tiny Devil suit, she had black hair in pigtails, white T-shirt, a pink skirt with flowers, and sandals on her small feet. “He said… something about a Chaos Kin.”

“Chaos Kin? Well, we’ll do research on that. You guys can go home.”

“Sweet.” Karin flexed her neck. “I got a soccer match coming up and I need to rejuvenate.”

“Heh, well if a mission doesn’t warm you up.” Cheren smirked.

“It’s a FOOTBALL match!” Jinta yelled. “FOOTBALL! Don’t give into the assimilation, Karin-chan!!”

“Lay it to rest, Jinta.” Karin punched his head. “Let’s go home and see if Yuzu’s done with cooking.”

“Ha ha ha!” Cheren laughed as they left. “She hasn’t changed a bit…”

**Sector JP Treehouse**

Sector JP’s treehouse was stationed atop a small mountain outside of Karakura, Japan. It used to be a Chinese-style tower that didn’t look at all like a KND base. This was because the old Sector JP were a stealth-based sector, and were among the greatest spies in the KND. This was especially so after Yin and Yang Bean joined them 20 years ago. …This Sector JP was anything but stealthy.

As you already saw, the two biggest fighters are Karin and Jinta. They make almost anything a contest. Kodama adds color and pizzazz to their party with her assortment of multipurpose fireworks. Even Ururu Tsumugiya, with her ability to shrink, was only stealthy for so long before she decided to punch people unsuspectingly with her Tiny Devil suit. They were the Number 9th best sector in the KND, so they were pretty skilled.

After landing their C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. in the hangar, Sector JP slipped off their shoes as they entered the living room of their treehouse. “Welcome back, Karin-chan!” A girl with brownish-yellow hair and a pink apron called from the kitchen. “I cooked you some ramen for your game! It’s meant to stay hot for two hours, so eat up!”

_

Cook of Sector JP  
YUZU KUROSAKI (Numbuh 5 Degrees)

_

“Cool!” Karin came to sit at the kitchen table, grabbing some chopsticks. “Thanks, Yuzu.” She began to slurp the steaming noodles.

“So how did the mission go?”

“You should’ve been there, Yuzu.” Jinta propped his bat over his shoulder proudly. “I kicked so much butt.”

“I bet you did!” Yuzu said perkily. “I wish I was there to see it.”

“Why don’t you ever come with us, Yuzu-chan?” Ururu asked. “You must get lonely here in the treehouse by yourself.”

“It’s because she’s a wimp, Ururu.” Jinta said smugly. “You would be too if not for your suit.” He pinched the blushing girl’s right arm.

“O-Ow! Jinta-kun, that hurt.”

“I’m not a wimp!” Yuzu puffed her cheeks. “I’m just happier staying in the treehouse to make you celebratory food. A strong team needs to eat healthy and stay strong. And since we could get a mission anytime, I’ll always be ready to serve you more!”

“It isn’t the same as getting out there.” Jinta plopped on the couch, sprawling his legs across as he grabbed a Wii U II controller. “C’mon, Karin, one-on-one in _Smash Bros. Universe_ , you on??”

“Do your ears work, Jinta?” Karin asked. “I said I’m going to a soccer match. I’ll have plenty of time to kick your butt afterward.” She resumed with her ramen.

“Well, I’m not going.” he said hotly. “Not if they’re gonna call it ‘soccer.’ I’ll just see if Ruby’s online. If not, you wanna play, Ururu?”

“N-No thanks. I’ll be bad at it.”

“Why are you such a baby!” He went over to tug her pigtails.

“Ahhh! Jinta-kun, please stop!”

“I’m done.” Karin set the near-empty bowl down and wiped her mouth with her arm. “Don’t know about you guys, but I’m off.” She ran to get her white soccer jersey.

“I’m coming, too!” Kodama hurried off. “Just let me get my fireworks!”

**Karakura Elementary Soccer Field**

Karin’s team was called the Karakura Stars (Karakurachō Sutā), and their opponents today were the Earth Dragons (Chikyū Doragonzu). “Hey Miki-chan, I know this isn’t baseball, but you STILL gotta keep your eye on it when I kick to you!” she yelled at one of her teammates. Karin was the only one of her team that was relatively famous because she had a winning streak. “Shikan, I know you’re slow, but at least move your legs so we know you’re alive.” She did more work than any of her teammates. They figured that their main use was so Karin could have enough players to legally play in soccer. “For crud’s sake, Neko, tie your shoes!”

The Earth Dragons’ leader, Sachi, who was a boy with shiny blonde hair, stole the ball from one of Karin’s teammates, causing that boy and all others who tried to stop him to trip. Sachi was about to reach the goal, but Karin jumped in his way and growled with malice. Sachi smirked cockily, kicking the ball up-and-down in place. He gestured left, then right, Karin inched those directions, but readied herself in case he would try something.

“Scared of me?” Sachi grinned snarkily. “Just try to take it. I dare you.”

“Hmph!” Karin stomped her right foot, smirking. “You know what? You can have it.”

Quicker than anyone could react, Karin jumped, kicked the ball into his chest with powerful force, and sent them both flying into the opposite goal. “WOOHOOOO! GO KARIN-CHAAAAN!” Yuzu cheered.

“Sigh…” Karin flexed her right leg and bent down to rub it. She looked up at the sound of fireworks: they formed an image of a soccerball, a “K”, and the kitty symbol on Karin’s shirt.

“Hoo.” Kodama wiped her forehead of sweat, having carried all these fireworks to the area outside the field. “Gotta remind the fans who owns this field.” She released more into the sky.

Karin smiled in gratitude at the colorful explosions. She looked over at the teammate who had fallen first, going over to pin her foot on his chest. “Whaddo I keep telling you, Chō? If you don’t stay focused, people’re gonna swipe stuff from you left and right. You think you’re gonna survive with people walking all over you like this?”

“You still won, didn’t you? You always win, what does it matter what we do?”

“Yeah, Karin-chan.” Miki said. “You never really need us. Plus, you’re in the KND, so you had extra training.”

“Whose fault is that?” Karin questioned. “I know I kick butt, but I would appreciate it if you guys acted like you gave a crud.”

“We do! …Sort of. We just wanna have fun, but you keep talking down on us. Why don’t you join some professional team if we slow you down so much?”

“Hey, if I wanted to, I could. But I feel like being nice and helping you squirts learn a thing or two. If you got such a problem with how I talk to you, why do you still hang around me?”

“Sometimes, it’s nice to feel like we’re a winning team.” Chō said as he pushed Karin’s foot off him and stood up. “Just when ‘as your negative prodding actually helped?”

“I like to call it ‘invigorating prodding.’ And FYI, it has worked. I’ll tell you all about it once this game is over.”

“Sure you will, Kari. I’m getting some Pocari. Anyone else?” He was joined by the others to get drinks at their bench, leaving Karin to herself.

“Hm.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’d be surprised if you knew…”

_Karin liked to visit the Arctic Base to watch the cadets. She couldn’t believe that she was among these clowns one year ago. Watching them mess up was funny, and she was so skilled at what she did. She won 200 soccer matches when she was here, and it was how her legs became so strong. Now she was 8, and she was so much better. She wondered what silly cadets were slumping at what._

_She found her favorite ones, two 6+-year-olds who looked smaller than any of the others: Cheren Uno and Panini Drilovsky. Panini punched him senseless in so many matches, he lost before he could even raise his toy sword. “Hahaha! YES! 34 to NONE!” Panini cheered. “Eat my FACE, Uno! AAAAHH heeheeheeheeeeee!” She scampered off like a rabbit._

_“Peh!” Cheren coughed some baby teeth when he stood up. “EH!” He fell over when a soccerball hit him._

_“How long are you gonna keep standing and taking that?” Karin asked him._

_“I see you around here!” Cheren’s adorable younger voice yelled. “Why you keep watching us?” He sounded cuter with the missing teeth._

_“Why does a kid like you keep fighting her if she keeps kicking your butt?”_

_“’Cause I wanna beat ‘er! I’m gonna beat ‘er someday!”_

_“You couldn’t beat up a two-year-old!”_

_“I can, too! I can push them do- OW!” She kicked the ball and pushed him again._

_“That ball can push you down and it’s shorter than you. Face it, Kid, you’re a wimp.”_

_“I am not.” Cheren got up and pushed the ball to her._

_She stopped it with her foot. “If by some miracle you join the Kids Next Door, what’re you gonna do?” She kick-rolled it back, and Cheren stopped with his hands._

_“Mm… I ’unno.” He pushed it back. “Work on Moonbase?”_

_“Pff-what?” Karin snickered. “Supreme Leader?” She kicked it back._

_“N-No.” He stopped it. “Maybe leader’s helper. Then I’ll be in charge of you.” He pushed the ball back._

_“Yeah right.” Stopped it. “The leader is one thing, but no one gives a crud about an assistant.” Kicked it back. “And even if you were leader, you wouldn’t earn my respect. You’d still be a little kid.”_

_He stopped it with his hands. “Ww…” He picked the ball up. “We’ll see.” He lightly bounced the ball to her with his younger arms and walked away._

_Karin caught it. “Sure we will.”_

_Three years later, the Kids Next Door went to war on Planet Flora. All of them were aghast when the Goddess of Nature was destroyed by the Fierce Deity who had appeared. She couldn’t believe that Cheren had gotten such power by putting on a mask. She couldn’t believe a kid like him could hold that power._

Karin chuckled at the very memory. “You’d be surprised if you knew…”

“It’s time for the second round, Karin.” Shikan said. “You ready?”

Karin smirked at him. “Of course I am. What about you?”

The rest of the match went without trouble.

 

**So even Karin had an impact on Cheren. :P I’ll probably do like _Sector W7_ and give a chapter to each character, but there might be an extra 6th chapter for… something else. Panda Bubba and Tubbimura are from _Xiaolin Showdown_ , Kodama is from _One Piece_ , and the other JPs are from _Bleach_. Now I leave you with a A1Z26 Cryptogram.**

**…**

**8-1-14-14-9-2-1-12’19 / 4-5-19-9-18-5**

**13-1-25 / 10-21-19-20 / 2-1-3-11-6-9-18-5**


	2. Yuzu the Sleepwalker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu works herself too hard, and her teammates are getting concerned. Secretly, Yuzu has an alternate personality that awakes whenever she falls asleep. When her friends become aware of this, they seek to try and control this wild side of Yuzu.

**WOW! I just learned Yuzu is voiced by Janice Kawaye in the English dub! More props to _Bleach_!!**

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Chapter 2: Yuzu the Sleepwalker

_**

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**Sector JP Treehouse**

“Ahhhhhhh…” Karin let her arms hang over the edge of the bathtub. The steaming water made her heavy. “How did the old Kids Next Door survive without baths.” She rolled on her front and let her head droop over. “Surely there had to be a limit with this ‘adult tyranny’ thing.” She went back to the previous position. “Cheren really made a good leader after all. He’s hell of a lot better than…” Karin became lost in thought, her head light as the steam around her.

Her eyes closed and cracked open, and when the blurriness cleared, she saw Yuzu standing over her. “YAAH!” She sat upright and covered her chest. “DAMMIT, Yuzu, don’t scare me like that!”

“I’m just making sure you’re having a squeaky bubbly bath, Karin!” She smiled brightly. “You’re washing your hair with shampoo, right?”

“Yes, and I’m tired of you walking in on me when I’m BATHING!”

“Oh, Karin, don’t tell me you forgot that we used to bathe together when we were little! We got on different sides, and we splashed each other, and we liked to make those little squeaky sounds when we-”

“GO AWAY!!” Karin flushed hotly.

“Also, if you’re having trouble reaching a few places, I-”

“KODAMAAAAAA!”

The Fireworks Expert burst into the room, tied two fireworks to Yuzu’s shoulders that faced backward, and lit them up. “Sorry, Karin!” Kodama saluted.

“WHOOOOOAAAAAHHH!” The fireworks soared out of the room with Yuzu in tow, gliding perfectly across the halls. Kodama chased after, leaving Karin to bathe in peace.

**Laundry room**

“You really need to watch yourself with these fireworks.” Yuzu told Kodama while pouring laundry soap in the washer, where many flashy clothes were piled. “I can’t believe this many of your clothes have stains and scorch marks. If you go around wearing ‘em like this, you’re gonna get sick.”

“That’s gonna be a problem, considering my family makes and sells fireworks for a living.” Kodama was sitting on the dryer, happily swinging her feet up and down. “The soot marks and colorful stains on our garb is a symbol of hard work and dedication!”

“Well, my job is to remove those symbols, not to bask in them.” Yuzu closed the washer and turned it on. “The symbol of my work is spotless, fragrant, comfy-fitting clothes!”

“Y-Yeah, but…” Kodama made a sweatdrop. “You don’t see me shooting fireworks in the bathroom while Karin’s bathing. Don’t you think you… overwork yourself a little with this job of yours? You stay up late to clean up after us, do our laundry, you’re always cooking… Otherwise, you have schoolwork.”

“Yeah, but who else is supposed to do all these things?”

“Our parents can wash our clothes, we can bring food from home or go to a restaurant…” Kodama reasoned.

“I read the _Guide to be the Perfect Housewife_ and followed its directions for the sole purpose of helping my friends and family.” Yuzu proclaimed determinedly. “I vowed I would fill the void left by our mother after she died, and keep our family happy the very same way she did. All of the food you eat is prepared with love, and that’s far more healthy than anything those restaurants can dish out.”

“Yuzu-chan…” Kodama looked sympathetically.

“Kodama, stop worrying about me.” She smiled assuringly. “I just want you guys to be sooped up and prepared for the missions that come. Now, it’s getting late, you should go to your room and get a good night’s sleep like the others.”

“Not like you!” Kodama furrowed her eyes, kicking off the dryer. “I’m not going to sleep unless YOU do!”

“I can’t go to sleep now.” Yuzu frowned. “I still haven’t gotten the filth in the back of the fridge, or patched the crack in the pipe under the sink, or… _yaaaaaawwwn_ …”

“Yuzuuuuu?” Kodama glared reprovingly. “You need sleeeeep…”

“…” Her brown eyes felt heavy. “Well… maybe a little nap wouldn’t hurt…”

Kodama guided Yuzu to hers and Karin’s room. The older twin had finished her bath and was passed out on her bed. “Good night, Yuzu.” Kodama told her after she had settled on her bed. “Don’t get up until the sun does.” She quietly shut the door as she left.

One hour had passed. The treehouse was in peaceful serenity as the sectormates were sound asleep. The windows in Jinta’s room were shattered from playing baseball in the house, and there were also several holes in his walls. Winters were chilly, but he toughed it out ’cause he was a strong little man. Kodama’s room was filled with fireworks and party favors both large and small. Just one spark could set the entire treehouse aflame in this room. Not that she was afraid, ’cause all this made her feel at home. Ururu’s bed was soft and fluffy, with a cozy pink blanket with a flower design. She had a few dolls and dollhouses to play with, and having a shrink suit made it more fun.

Karin was a louder snorer than her twin and got to sleep much more quickly. But after the amount of work Yuzu managed to do each day, her body felt dead in bed. …Her eyes popped wide open. She threw her covers off and got up from bed. She grabbed a bluish-gray hoodie from her closet, some blue jeans, and walked soundlessly down the hall in her pink socks. Once at the stairs that led down and out of the treehouse, she put on blue strap-on shoes before heading down.

**Karakura Town**

Karakura was a lively town, even at night, and one would be surprised how many kids are allowed to roam the streets. Yuzu, like any cool kid, was walking the town without a care in the world, hands stuffed in her pockets. Her brown eyes, which had a dull milky appearance about them, were shadowed by her hood.

She went around the back alley of a candy store and followed a stairway down. She knocked on the door as a slot open, exposing two eyes. “Password?”

“Babu sore o idō shimasu.” She stated firmly. (“Move it, Bub.”)

“You pass.”

Yuzu entered Sweet Pocari’s, where wild and crazy up-late kids from all over town came to party, get drunk on soda, and get low grades in school because they fall asleep in class. “Yuzu-chan, what’s uuuuup!” Some boys were calling from a table. “You brought your cards, right??”

“You know it!” Yuzu pulled off her hood, exposing her confident smirk as she grabbed Pokémon Cards from her sweater pocket. “I still got yours from last night, and Ah’m takin’ the rest of ‘em!”

“In your dreams, Yuzu!” a dark-skinned boy in a green coat grabbed his cards. “We’re playing Generation V!”

“Peh! Generation V, Generation 61, I’ll take ‘em all! SO BRING IT OOOOOON!” She raised Pignite and played him proudly.

**Sector JP Treehouse**

Not only did Karin snore loudly, she rolled around in bed a lot, too. It was probably because she had more pent up energy, yet she didn’t exhaust herself as much as Yuzu. “Uuuuhh…” Some drool leaked on her pillow, and an involuntary forceful snort sucked it in and startled her awake. “Nnn… I need a drink. Hm?” She looked at the empty bed next to hers. “Sigh, Yuzu… I really wish you wouldn’t work yourself so late.”

Karin got up and walked to the kitchen in her small yellow socks, her dark-gray eyes weary. She got some milk from the refrigerator, poured it in a glass, and took a drink. “Haaaah.” Karin sighed, relieving the rugged state of her mouth, and a blue breath flowed from it.

“WHOA!” The treehouse shook under a sudden powerful force, and Karin fell over. She jumped to her feet and ran for the treehouse balcony. A grayish-black pirate ship with some ghostly green parts, with black sails with a green Jolly Roger, was floating a few meters outside.

“AVAST YE, Sector JP!” The “captain” of the ship, a green-haired boy with gray skin, a left hook hand, left peg leg, and a gray coat aimed a sword at Karin. “Return ye yon yo-yo thou hath stolen, or be keelhauled by we Youngblood Pirates!”

“Uck! You’re getting your Shakespearean and pirate talk mixed up.” Youngblood’s skeleton pirate said.

“They’re kind of the same, aren’t they?”

“Not really…”

“HEY!!” Karin shouted. “D’you have any idea what time it is?! I know you’re a ghost, but kids like you should STILL have a bedtime!”

“AY have a bedtime?? HO ho ho!” Youngblood chortled. “In the Youngblood Pirates, thar be no such thing! Now hand ye over yer Yin Yo-yo or I shall turn yer treehouse into shrapnel and pencil shavings!”

“Karin, what’s going on?” Kodama yelled as she, Ururu, and Jinta rushed out in their pajamas.

“This twerp is here for the Yin Yo-yo. Hate to tell ya, but you’re out of luck! We already took the yo-yo to a sooper secret location! _He doesn’t have to know about Moonbase.”_ she whispered to her teammates.

“Yarrrr! Then we shall take ye in our hold and FORCE the info out of ye! Maties: FIRRRRRE!”

Cannonballs let loose, but Jinta swung his giant bat and whacked whichever ones he could away. “Kodama, you still have those anti-ecto fireworks I asked you to make, right?” Karin asked.

“Yeah, you want me to get ‘em?”

“Yes, set them up, hurry!” The leader rushed inside.

“I guess I can’t ask why you wanted ‘em in the first place, now!” Kodama hurried off.

Karin jumped into a control station and began to blast the ghost ship with turrets. “Board their vessel, ye scurvy scallywags!” Youngblood roared. “Take all their cargo! Tarr it to pieces and find yonder yo-yo!”

“Not every pirate talks like that, can’t you just be normal?” the parrot asked.

“Get into the spirit, already!”

Ghost pirates were flying into the treehouse, but Ururu blasted them with a missile launcher from above, flying with her Tiny Devil. Pirates flew behind her in the air, so Ururu shrunk, zipped around at fly size, and pierced through the ghosts like bullets. She had small bits of ectoplasm on her suit and shook it off. “Normally, I attack at slower speed so I don’t go through, but since you guys are ghosts, it shouldn’t hurt much. Ha ha ha.” She laughed sheepishly.

Karin succeeded in shooting the mast of the ghost ship down, but the pirates onboard created a shield with their energy to protect. “Hands where Ay can see ‘em, Girly!” Youngblood appeared behind her, aiming a gun. “Tell me where the yo-yo be, or Ay can tell ya where yer brain shall be: EVERYWHERE! YAH harharharhaaaarr!”

“Heh.” Karin stood up on the seat and turned to face him. “Since you’ve raised your pistol, you must be willing to risk your life.”

“What? What are ye talking about, I’m a ghost!”

“Even the afterlife can be cruel.” Karin smirked, looming closer.

“U-u-uh, Ay…” Youngblood was trembling. Karin inched closer. “Uh-I…” Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot the pistol.

Karin jumped and- “YAH!!” kicked the kid ghost in the face, sending him flying backward. Youngblood dizzily recovered, and gasped when Karin was dashing toward him. Reacting quick, he shot at her with his gun, but Karin nimbly dodged and ducked to slide on her socks. Once at Youngblood, she swung a storm of mighty kicks, then sent him across the living room toward the balcony.

“Arrrr! To the ship, ye useless dogs! Ay have one last thing that can smite them!” The weakened pirates groggily recovered and flew after him.

“I’ve got the crackers, guys!” Kodama yelled, hauling two green fireworks in.

“Hurry and light ‘em up!” Karin yelled.

The ghost pirates stopped their shield so Youngblood and his crewmen could get back on. “Ember, it’s up to ye! Shiver and destroy their timbers!”

Ember McLain, in her pirate uniform, hooked her guitar up to two huge amplifiers. “I’m on it!”

Kodama set the fireworks on the balcony and lined them directly with the ship. Ember stood on the keel and readied to strum her guitar. The Music Ghost released her deadly sonic wave, Kodama lit her firecrackers and let them fly. The projectiles withstood the sonic waves, crashed into the amplifier, and exploded the entire vessel with anti-ecto material.

“WAAAAH!” Youngblood flew out as pieces scattered everywhere. “NOOO! Me hearties! Ye’ve not seen the last of me, Sector JP! Ay will return and claim me booty, so help me- YOW!” A piece of shrapnel scratched him. “Yarrrrrr!” He and his parrot flew away.

“Phew!” Kodama wiped her forehead. “I’m used to late-night parties, but sometimes I wanna sleep. You know what I mean, don’t you Yuz-…” She looked around. “Wait, where is Yuzu?”

“She wasn’t in her bed.” Karin mentioned. “I thought she was doing laundry or something, but she should’ve been up here by now.”

“You don’t think she was hurt by a cannonball, do you?” Ururu asked.

“I dunno… Let’s look around the treehouse and see if she didn’t pass out anywhere. Otherwise, she mighta gone late-night shopping…”

**Downtown**

“HA HAAAAA!” Yuzu raised the Pokémon Cards victoriously. “At long last, Victini and Reshiram are now MINE!”

 _“Mmm, I don’ even like Reshir, mm-nn…”_ The dark-skinned boy mumbled.

“Ah’ight, you guys ready to blow this joint and hit the town?!” Yuzu slammed her hands on the table.

“And do what?” a boy with round glasses and a blue sweater asked.

“Whatever the heck EVER, the night’s young, WE’RE young, so let’s go out and act like unreasonable youngsters!”

“YEAH! Unreasonable youngsters!” the dark-skinned cheered.

“YEEEEAAAAH!” The others joined.

“And I know just the place!” Yuzu declared.

**Laundromat**

“Uhhhh… a laundromat?” the glasses boy asked.

“What? These things look cool!” Yuzu said, staring at an active washer. “And you can hold your breath and ride in ‘em.”

The kids exchanged weirded glances. “You’ve… actually done that?”

“Sure I did! Come on, I’ll show ya!” Yuzu dove into an open washer, bending herself to fit inside. “Alright, shut it and turn it on!”

“. . . .” They were all thinking how weird this girl was.

“COME ON, don’t be babies, turn it on!”

“Um…” The glasses boy closed the washer and put some coins in.

 _“WRRRR-HRRRRRR!”_ Yuzu was cheering through her gurgles. _“Wrr-hrrrrrr! Wrr-hrrrrrr!”_

“…Wanna hit the arcade?” the dark-skinned boy asked.

“Yeah, she can kick it open if she wants out.” With that, they all left.

_“Wrr-hrrrrrr! Wrr-hrrrrrr. . . . .!”_

**The next morning…**

“Ooooooohhh…” When Yuzu came to her senses, she was laying in a puddle of water. She seemed to have ended up in a laundromat. “W-Whaddid I do last night? Why am I so… wet? …Well, whatever the case, this is unacceptable! I might as well mop this floor myself. And dry my clothes… Huh?” She found a collection of soaked Pokémon Cards in her pocket. “Jinta’s cards? Why would I have these?”

**Sector JP Treehouse**

The JP members woke up late because of their midnight interruption. Kodama and Ururu were having breakfast while Jinta was playing a game to wake himself up. Karin returned to the treehouse from below. “Yuzu wasn’t at home; she didn’t come back here, did she?”

“N…No…” Ururu said with concern.

“Maybe she slept outside the grocery store to get in before anyone else.” Jinta remarked.

“Ugh, that’s exactly what I’m worried about.” Karin face-palmed. “Come on, you all, we have to go look for her. She might’ve passed out in the street for all we know; one way or another, Yuzu’s gonna kill herself with-”

“Kill myself with what?” Karin jumped, whipping around to find her sister in the doorway.

“Y…Yuzu!”

“Karin, why are your eyes so baggy?” Yuzu walked closer with a quizzical look. “You weren’t up late playing videogames, were you? I keep telling you, if you stare at the TV all night, you’ll need glasses. Ugh, same with you, Jinta, look at yourself.”

“Look who’s accusing WHO of being up late!” Karin marched up and grabbed her shoulders. “We got attacked in the middle of the night, you weren’t here so we thought you went home, but then you WEREN’T, and I’ve been worried SICK about you! Yuzu, where the heck WERE you?!”

“I… don’t really remember.” Yuzu touched her forehead. “Kodama brought me to my room, and next thing I knew, I woke up in a laundromat. I had to dry my sweater off… Oh, and Jinta-kun, these got ruined in the washer.” She pulled out the-

“MY POKÉMON CARDS!” Jinta screamed. “YUZU, how could you do this?!”

“I…” She looked down, “I really don’t know what I was thinking… AAH! But speaking of laundry, I’m sure yours are ready to dry by now! I’ll be back in a jiffy!” She zipped away.

The four others stared in her direction with confusion. “You know what I think?” Jinta asked.

“What?” Karin replied.

“Yuzu is possessed by a spirit. Or a demon maybe.”

“Jinta, she’s not an anime (ah-ni-may) character. And even in this world, it’s the most cliché thing ever.”

“It’s pronounced _ann_ -ni-may.” Jinta retorted.

“Is not. (Sheesh, talk about giving in to the New Order.)”

“Actually, it could be that Yuzu is sleepwalking.” Kodama mentioned. “I read an old folktale about people who take up a different personality after their other self falls asleep.”

“I never heard of that folktale.” Jinta said. “Is it for real?”

“Is any of this real, Jinta?” Kodama cocked a brow, tilting her head right. “Do kids really have giant treehouses that adults can’t see? Can humans really control elements with their willpower? Was the Earth not invaded by mutated plants last week?”

“. . . Go on.”

“Anyway,” Kodama’s head stood straight again, “it doesn’t become apparent after birth, but as a person’s personality develops, a second personality grows inside of them. It’s a personality that’s repressed inside of the current person for whatever reason, whether it’s intentional or not, and when that person goes to sleep, the other person has a chance to take over. Then, when that person falls asleep, the original personality can come back.”

“So, do you think Yuzu-chan could be one of those people?” Ururu asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Karin said. “She forces herself to work so hard, another side of her must want to have fun or something. Maybe we should test it out, just to be sure.”

“Great news, guys!” Yuzu came back with a stack of clean laundry. “Your clothes are dry and toasty, perfect to start a brand new day! If you all haven’t taken baths yet, I’ll be happy to clean the tubs so you-”

Karin touched her shoulder. “Yuzu, there’s something we gotta tell you.”

**Yuzu and Karin’s Room**

“You want me to… go to sleep now?” Yuzu asked, sitting in bed with the covers half over her.

“Yes. We wanna see if you have an ‘alternate personality’ that wakes up after _you_ fall asleep.” Karin recapped.

“And I totally wanna see it!” Jinta smirked eagerly. “If she’s as cool as I think, I’ll finally have someone worthy to play with! OW!” Karin punched him.

“Depending on what she’s like, we may have to do something about her. Otherwise, you could get hurt.”

“Don’t be silly, Karin.” Yuzu smiled perkily. “I’m sure I would be aware of an ‘alter-ego’ or something. Albeit, I have been waking up in strange places for the past few nights.” She tipped a finger to her chin. “Like the grocery store, the gym, school, but I’m sure my inner instinct is reminding me to do those things, and my always-active body is giving me a headstart while my mind is off!”

“Sure it is. Ururu,” Karin snapped fingers, “sleep her.”

“Oh!” Yuzu flinched when Ururu crawled behind and pinched her shoulders.

 _“Ima, Yuzu-chan o surīpu.”_ Ururu whispered softly in her ear, squeezing her shoulders. “Sleeeep now… _sleeep…_ Have a _good_ night… Mr. Sandman is here… to _take you away…_ Sleeeep…”

“Uuuuunnnn…” Yuzu’s eyelids grew heavy, and Ururu moved aside to let her fall back on her pillow.

“Wow… Way to go, Ururu.” Kodama said with silent amazement.

“I thought if it worked on Jinta, it worked for her, too. Heh heh heh.” She smiled and blushed.

“Mmmmmm.” Jinta hid behind Kodama frightfully.

“So how long do we have to wait?” Karin asked.

“I’m not sure.” Kodama replied. “It might depend on how long it takes a person to fall asleep completely.”

“Not to pat myself too hard, but we shouldn’t have too long to wait, then.” Ururu said.

“… … …” Yuzu’s eyes shot open. “Uwuuuuhhh!” She yawned with a different tone of voice, stretching awake. “See fellas, I told you it was fu-…” She looked confused at the different group of people. “Wait… What’re you dudes doing here?” Yuzu looked around. “Heck, what am _I_ doing here?? This ain’t the laundry mat!”

“Yuzu, is that… really you?” Karin asked.

“Duh, who else would I be but me?” Yuzu threw the blanket off and got up from bed. “I don’t even know who you guys are ’cause you’re always asleep.”

Jinta pushed Karin aside and said proudly, “My name’s Jinta and I’m the boss of all these guys. I’d be willing to make you my sidekick if you want.”

In a split second, Yuzu forced Jinta around and pulled his arms behind his back. “Ah- ah- ow- ow!”

“You’re my sidekick, suckuh.” She kicked him to the floor and stood on his back. “Guys, make yourselves helpful and tickle him.”

“NO, NO!” Jinta cried. “Hahahahahahahaha!” Ururu and Kodama were happily tickling his feet. “Get off me, please stop! Hahahahahahaha!” He couldn’t shake out under Yuzu’s weight.

“Ho-hokay.” Karin laughed, patting Yuzu’s shoulder. “You are pretty fun this way. But I’m still worried about you, Yuzu. You’re getting even _less_ sleep than usual.”

“What’re you talking about, I’m always this way!” She gave two thumbs up. “Except when I’m sleepin’, which is like a HUUUGE time-waster. Say, you nards wanna vandalize the town; I know a good place that sells graffiti!”

“Yuzu, when you aren’t doing _this_ , you’re… somebody else.” Kodama told her. “You do our laundry, clean the treehouse, cook us food… Heck, you even help organize our mission reports and our homework.”

“Cleaning? Homework? Pfft, that stuff’s boring! I’m more about livin’ life to the extreme, you know!”

“I stand with ya there!” Jinta grunted, still being stood on.

“SILENCE, Carpet Worm!” Yuzu stomped him. “I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas, but that ain’t me. And even if it was, THIS me is totally better! Am I right?”

“Um, b-but…” Karin wasn’t sure what to say about that. “But this isn’t you, Yuzu. Not for as long as… I’ve known you.”

“Alright, then give me a shot.” Yuzu winked. “Come hit the town with me and see which Yuz’ you like better.”

“I’m still voting for you, either way.” Jinta remarked.

Karin stomped his head and pressed his face to the floor. “If nothing else, I prefer _you_ like _this_.” she said to him.

**Downtown alley**

“FOOOORE!” Yuzu roared, readying Jinta’s giant bat. The red-haired boy chucked a porcelain pot that Yuzu hit with the bat, sending its pieces flying over the building.

Karin recorded the pieces flying over, then focused her camera back on Yuzu. “K-Karin-san, don’t you think we should stop her?” Ururu asked as they two and Kodama were watching their game.

“We have to record this and show the real Yuzu what she’s doing. Maybe if she knows, she can try to control herself. …But I wish they would hurry this up.”

“FOOORE!” Yuzu yelled as Jinta hurled a porcelain cat, which again went flying over the buildings. “Now a real baseball this time!” Jinta complied and chucked a baseball. Yuzu whacked it forcefully through a window in this alley.

 _“WHICH OF YOU KIDS DID THAT?!”_ a man’s voice roared.

“RUN AWAAAAYYY!” Yuzu excitedly scampered away from the alley, swinging the large bat against either wall, and her friends rushed after her.

**Atop a building**

“RELOAD!” Yuzu yelled as Kodama regretfully handed her a firework. Yuzu lit it with a lighter, sending the small explosive into a ramen stand. “Reload!” She was handed another one, which Yuzu used to bomb a delivery boy on a bike. “Reload!” She fired a cracker at a huge Chinese dragon kite, which burst into flame, cut from its strings, and glided down to a park to set all of the trees and grass on fire.

“RELOAD!” Yuzu awaited another one, so Kodama gave her a cracker with blue and red swirly stripes. Yuzu aimed at a truck carrying drums of grease, lit the fuse, and… … “Why won’t it go?” Yuzu asked as the spark was moving very slowly on the fuse.

“That one’s an English Patient.” Kodama replied. “Takes a long time for unsatisfying payoff.”

Yuzu stared at the slow-moving spark for a few seconds. “Well, let’s do something else.”

**Forest area**

“Um… Y-Yuzu-chan?” Ururu spoke softly. “I don’t think… I like this.”

Yuzu was using a knife to spread honey over Ururu’s face, arms, and legs. “Chill out, you’re an Ant-Girl, right? You’re probably friends with bees.”

“B-But I’m still human, and bees hate… ohhh…”

A swarm of bees were coming from a nearby hive. All of them took a spot on the honey on Ururu’s body. The child’s heart raced rapidly, and her skin was tingling with all the fuzzy buzzy critters. “H-H-H-How long d-do I h-have to h-have them?”

“Bring ‘em to this pot and I’ll scrape them off!” Yuzu stood by a large pot, holding the lid and the butter knife.

“O-O-Okay.” Ururu tip-toed… very slowly… very cautiously… She kept her limbs as still as possible. She did everything in her power to keep from disturbing the bees. Fear consumed her heart. This fear kept her absolutely focused. She was so afraid… She was-

Tired of waiting, Yuzu ran over and KICKED Ururu to the ground. “YAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” The bees swarmed the pigtailed girl with anger.

**Sector JP Treehouse**

After Ururu’s swollen red body was drenched in cream, they were back at the treehouse. “Yuzu, this _really_ isn’t a good idea.” Karin said as Yuzu was hooking her cellphone to the communication hub. “How will you even manage to hide the Caller ID?”

“You’d be surprised, Kari.” Yuzu dialed in a number, and waited for an answer. “Hello? Sector IC? This is Sally from Sector W.” She changed her voice to sound cuter. “Could you please tell Lola that Fybi says her fangs are cheaper than her Halloween costume?” She hung up and made a wink, “Tsk tsk!” She then dialed another number. “Kids Next Door Bike Hub? This is Apis, from Sector W7. Chimney just wants you to know her train can squish all your puny bikes like coyotes trying to trap a Road Runner.” She hung up, dialed again. “Sector KB? Oh, Ruby, hello! This is Yuzu. Jinta just wanted me to ask how you hide your-”

Jinta smashed the large TV with his bat, ending the call. “Yyyyeah… that’s going too far.” he said.

“He’s right for once, Yuzu.” Karin said, still recording. “You had your fun, but you need to go back to normal. Ururu, can you do what you did again?”

 _“Ka’in-s’n! Th’s nn t’n c’m’n!”_ Ururu pointed frantically, incomprehensible with her swollen throat.

“Oh, right.” Karin remembered. “Alright, let’s just try to keep her here.”

 _“Nnnnnn! Th’s nn t’nnnnnn!”_ Ururu shook.

“Th th whut?”

“Karin-san!” Kodama yelled from the window. “There’s a train coming!”

“A train?!” Karin and the others rushed over (Ururu’s eyes narrowed in aggravation). A black, flying train was soaring to the treehouse, emitting green exhaust.

“MWAAAAH HAHAHAHA hahaaaaaa!” Youngblood laughed, wearing a train conductor’s uniform as he stuck his head out the side window. “Ay shall squish yer tree fort like a coyote that has inconveniently landed on the track!”

“You’re stuck on pirate, now.” The parrot said.

“Oh, no!” Karin yelled. “Kodama, get more ecto crackers, NOW!”

“I only had those two! And they aren’t easy to make, you know!”

“He’s gonna ram us!!” Jinta panicked. “Whaddo we do?!”

“STOP crying!” Yuzu shouted, shoving the bat in Jinta’s arms. “Swing me over to him!” She squatted, ready to jump.

“I can just get one of my big fireworks-” Kodama gestured inside.

“NOW!” Yuzu jumped, Jinta swung his bat, she kicked her feet off it, and Yuzu flew like a rocket.

“HA HA HA HAAAA!” Youngblood’s head was still sticking out the window. “Hehn?” Yuzu rammed him, pulling the ghost kid with her to the mountain path. The train spun out of control, missing the treehouse, going to the sky, and exploding.

“YUZU!” Karin cried as they scrambled to go downstairs.

“Oooooowww…” Youngblood wobbled dizzily after hitting the ground. “Ye haven’t… seen the last of me… ya tree-lubbers.” He phased through the ground and vanished.

“Yuzu!” The others made it down and found their friend unconscious on the path.

Yuzu moaned, holding her head as she woke up to see them. “Guys… why are we… outside? …AHH! My clothes!” She jumped to her feet, viewing her dirtied and ripped sweater and jeans. “After I just had these washed! Ugh! Well, I’ll get ‘em patched up in a jiffy.”

“Wait! Yuzu…” Karin stopped her. “We wanna show you something.”

**After showing the video…**

The operatives went back inside the treehouse to show Yuzu everything Karin recorded. Yuzu’s mind was blown. “I… really did all that?”

“It’s just what we told you.” Kodama said. “You have an alter-ego that wakes up after you fall asleep. Let’s assume she shows up every night… those are regular things for you.”

“I don’t… believe it.” Yuzu looked down. “I’m so ashamed.”

“It’s okay, Yuzu.” Karin touched her shoulder. “Now that you’re aware of it, you can take steps to control your other self. And we’ll help you.”

“No.” Yuzu stated firmly, raising a fist. “No matter what happens, you all need to keep in shape for your missions. And I’m going to keep helping you. As a matter of fact, I’ll work DOUBLE time! Because I will NEVER go to sleep and let myself lose control again!”

All of their jaws popped open.

**Two days later…**

“…You know, I didn’t think she could make it.” Jinta commented while playing his game.

Yuzu had succeeded in staying up for two days straight. When night was falling on the second day, she was busy scrubbing the pipe under the sink. Kodama sighed, approaching her friend with a sympathetic look. “Yuzu?”

“Yes, Kodama?” Yuzu turned and faced her. She had messy hair and had reddening, zombie-like eyes.

“Eeee-eh!” Kodama was taken aback in fright. “Yuzu, this needs to stop! I don’t think risking your other self having a night off is worse than what you’re doing now. Sleepwalking or not, you need a good night’s sleep like the rest of us. This can’t be healthy for you at all!”

“I think I know the problem with my other self.” Yuzu stated, going back to scrubbing. “She gets up and does whatever because _this_ self doesn’t work hard enough. I need to force myself to work and burn my responsibility into my brain. Sooner or later, even my ‘other self’ will understand, and if she doesn’t, our body will be too exhausted to do anything she has planned. Kodama, this is just how it has to be, alright?”

“Yuzu, _please_ go to sleep.” Kodama touched her shoulder comfortingly. “We’re grateful for all the work you do, but we care about _you_ more. Go to sleep and we promise we’ll try to control your alter-ego. Please.”

“Ehh.” Yuzu shoved her off, standing as she began to slowly limp to the hall. “I don’t want to become a burden to any of you. I don’t go with you on missions to slow you down… I cook your food and clean your clothes so you’ll be ready for them… so I won’t let you waste your energy on some uncontrollable part of me. I’ll stay awake… and keep caring for you if it kills me…” They watched until she was gone down the hallway.

“I feel so terrible… Karin-san.” Ururu said, sitting on a chair in her partly-swollen body.

“Can you do that thing you did for her now?” Karin asked.

“My fingers still kinda hurt. Besides… what if the other Yuzu gets the same way? I can’t imagine what it would be like if… she never slept.”

Yuzu was slowly limping toward the laundry room to see if the kitchen towels were dry. Youngblood appeared through the wall, wearing a chef’s costume. “Well, salt me up some sizza-frizzle, it’s the darn varmit what did me in before. REEEAAAAAAHHHH!” He unleashed a monstrous, soul-tingling roar at the brown-haired girl, but Yuzu ignored him as she walked through his ghostly body. “Huh?” Youngblood flew over, slapping his hand through. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” He kept slapping. “Can you not see me?”

Yuzu walked like the living zombie she was and entered the laundry room. “…Well, one less to worry about.” The ghost shrugged. “Let’s get the others!”

Just when Jinta was about to touch the Goal and clear the stage he was on, the TV shut off. “Huh?!” He grabbed the remote and frantically pressed it. “DANG IT! With all the work Yuzu’s doing, you’d think she paid the electric bill! AAAHH!” His controller floated in the air and flew around him, tying him up tight with the cord.

“YEEEE heeheeheeheeheehee heeeeeee!” The room turned dark as Youngblood materialized. “You know what they say, pardners: three times’ the charm! Now I’ll have y’all roasted on a silver platter ’less y’all give me that yo-yo!”

“Again, the country accent would have been acceptable for the train thing.” Parrot said.

“Dude, I just don’t care, anymore. So what say you, my fleshy adversaries? Do you agree to my conditions or DON’T ye!”

“You’re about on my last nerve!” Karin jumped and attempted to kick the ghost, but the skeleton parrot grew in size and caught her in his talons, pinning the Sector Leader to the ground.

“Karin-san! Hold on!” Ururu was trying to fit in her Tiny Devil suit, but her swollen features made it impossible. Youngblood used his power to make all of Ururu’s toys fly into the room, attacking the girl from all ends before she was down, then pinning her. Kodama grabbed some fireworks from under her robe and tried to blast them at Youngblood, but the ghost shot Ecto Rays to destroy them, then controlled the resulted colorful confetti to cut her skin with mini paper cuts. He then stabbed the confetti through her feet to make Kodama fall over.

“I am Youngblood! The Ghost of Youth!” he announced. “Everything that symbolizes childhood is to my whim! Videogames, toys, colorful things… And for my faithful fans, a triple dozen course helping of my Sugar Tsunami of Doom!” Several streams of sugar and candy flew out of the cabinets, forcing their way down the trapped children’s throats.

“Cough, cough, kueh!” Karin choked, some sugar now spread around her mouth. She glanced left to see Yuzu come back.

“Guys, what are you doing?” She gasped, “I told you not to stuff yourselves with sugar! Honestly, you four are HOPELESS sometimes!”

“Yuzu, we’re trapped!” Karin struggled. “We’re under attack! Can’t you see?!”

“Man, and I thought I would start hallucinating.” Yuzu said quizzically. “Hang on, let me look for some water to wash all that down.” She went to the kitchen.

“Yuzu, what is wrong with you?!”

“HAH! Why do you think I’m called Youngblood?” The ghost smirked. “Only kids or adults who act like kids can see me. But NOT kids who act like adults. She’ll be too blind to even notice THIS!” Youngblood pulled out a syringe of Fear Toxin. Laughing manically, he flew over and phased the needle through Yuzu’s bottle of water. While she didn’t notice, the liquid was now dark-red.

The pink-eyed girl approached the fallen Karin without a hint of knowledge. Karin desperately tried to escape the parrot’s talons, terrified at the sight of the poison. “Yuzu, please! Put that bottle down and go to sleep! Please!”

“Karin, you can’t expect me to rest knowing you guys are stuffing yourselves like this.”

“No, listen! There’s a ghost here that only kids can see, but you can’t see him because you’re acting too responsible! Your other self was able to see him two days ago, so you’ve gotta go to sleep and let your other self take over! PLEASE!”

“See, Karin, this is exactly the kind of thing that sugar does to you. Now, I’m going to give you this water, drink it _all_ the way down, then I’ll find you some fruit that’ll hopefully be enough to stop that sugar from doing much damage.”

“Grrrrr!” Yuzu was seconds from reaching her sister. Without ever realizing, she would poison Karin with Nightmare Toxin and drown her in a sea of nightmares. Her anger fueling her, Karin mustered the strength to break the parrot’s talons away from her, jumping up high and KICKING the bird’s giant head clean off. Karin landed firmly before Yuzu, PUNCHING her sister’s jaw with terrific force that knocked her out cold. The open bottle flew away and spilled on the floor.

“Sheesh! All she was trying to do was bring you water.” Youngblood stated. “Even _I_ don’t play that rough. Doesn’t matter, because I have another one, right here!” He drew another syringe of toxin, ready to stab it in Karin.

With speed like the wind, Yuzu flew across the air and kicked her socked foot across Youngblood’s face. The ghost slid across the floor, dropping the syringe that broke. The ghost rubbed his sore jaw and sat up to view his assaulter. “No one punks with MY buds except ME!”

“So, you can see me after all, huh?” Youngblood floated high above. “Then you’ll be the NEXT one to taste my Sugar Typhoon of Doom!”

“I thought it was ‘Tsunami.’” Jinta mentioned.

“I’m changing it to ‘Typhoon.’” The ghost willed a cyclone of sugar to fly around and above him.

“We’ll see how that Sugar Typhoon compares to what _I_ can cook!” Yuzu grabbed a fallen ladle and used it to skate to the kitchen. “Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Yuzu’s in the house: no peeking!” She pulled a curtain out of nowhere to conceal herself. There was the boiling of a pot, some chopping up, some stirring. Even Youngblood was eager to see what she might be cooking.

Finally, the curtain opened. “Aaaall done!” She was holding a huge, brown muffin-like cake in two oven mitts.

Youngblood’s mouth watered at that steaming delicacy. “Holy wow! That things look marvelous!”

“Eat it! It’s all for you!”

Youngblood was quick to fly over and start stuffing himself with the pastry. “Oh MAN, this is the greatest thing I ever tasted! How the heck do you make something like this?!”

“Easy!” Yuzu beamed. “I just add lots… and lots… . . .” Her look became devilish, _“of spinach.”_

“SPINACH?!” Youngblood panicked. **“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”** The ghost’s body shone with a bright green light. Just like that, he exploded like fireworks. The ghostly items trapping the kids released them, and the parrot poofed away.

“Phew.” Karin held her chest in relief. “Thanks, Yuzu. We would’ve been goners if it wasn’t for you.”

“Just doin’ mah job, Karin-nee.” Yuzu folded hands behind her head. “I ain’t even know I could cook.”

“Well, you can.” Ururu told her with a smile. “The Yuzu that we know can do that and more. Because she really loves us.”

“And we love you, too.” Kodama told her. “No matter who you are.” She touched Yuzu’s shoulder. “That’s why we would really love it if you go to sleep.”

“We want _both_ of you to go to sleep.” Karin put her hand on the other shoulder. “You need it more than any of us, Yuzu. A good night’s rest, just for once.”

“W…Why?” the spunky girl asked. “Don’t you wanna stay up and party?”

“Yes, we do.” Ururu told her kindly. “We wanna stay up and party with the _real_ Yuzu. In the daylight, after a good night’s rest. Please, Yuzu… go to sleep.”

Yuzu looked around at all of them. Except for Jinta, who was wearing a ‘cool boy’ frown, her three friends looked so caring. Yuzu, whoever she really was, never had this feeling. This side of her never knew how they felt about her. “Eh… I guess.”

They guided Yuzu to her room, took off her apron, and let their friend settle on her bed. Her pink eyes closed, and she was gone into slumber. For the rest of the night… neither she nor the other Yuzu woke up.

**The next afternoon**

For the first time in ages, Yuzu wasn’t waking up in some random store. It was the best night she had ever slept. Her eyes felt amazing, completely rejuvenated. She had the strength to take off the covers and walk to the living room to start a brand new day. “Huh?” Jinta was cleaning the windows, Ururu was sweeping the floor, Kodama wore firework jetpacks to wash the ceiling, and Karin was cooking food.

“Good morning, Yuzu!” her sister called. “I made you breakfast!”

There was some bacon and pancakes on the table. “Karin-chan… you didn’t have to do all this.”

“Yeah, but we did.” Karin marched over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “From now on, we do everything as a team. You go on missions with us, and we help you with chores. Got it?”

“Karin…” Yuzu smiled warmly, unsure of what to say. Karin sported an energetic grin.

 

**Youngblood and Ember are from _Danny Phantom_. So which do you like more, Day Yuzu or Night Yuzu? ;3 While you decide, here’s an Atbash Cipher.**

**…**

**_ZOO GSV DZB UILN WFHP GL WZDM_ **

**_OVG BLFI LGSVI SZOU XLNV LM_ **


	3. Jinta, the Strongest Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the years, girls have become more badass in the KND, but boys don't seem to care one bit. Jinta Hanakari is the exception, and he is aware of the pride boys have lost. He vows to redeem the male gender, by winning the top spot in a Girls' Boxing Tournament.

**Time to start Jinta-kun’s chapter!**

****__

**_Chapter 3: Jinta, the Strongest Boy_**

__

_Once upon 20 years ago, there was an operative called Wallabee Beatles._

_He was the toughest boy, famous for his wedgies, noogies, and purple nurples._

_Sure, he was short, but his strength was superior in size!_

_…But this was before all the random shit happened._

_The Earth was invaded by aliens, demons, fish-people, then some Dark Lord person._

_For those first two, Nigel Uno saved the day, and he was awesome._

_But then Eva Roberts was an Ocean Princess, and Fanny Fulbright became giant…_

_Then Rachel became the Hero of Time, Dimentia got redeemed…_

_I mean, sure Arceus was beaten by Aang and Gnaa_

_But most of the Firstborn Guardians were girls, all the girl benders became badasses_

_And not only did Wallabee, Nigel, or especially Chad look boring by comparison…_

_ALL the best operatives in the WHOLE KND are freaking GIRLS!!_

“Isn’t that just annoying?!” Jinta stated, after showing his series of pictures.

Yuzu and Ururu were sitting on mats on their knees, staring at him weirdly. “Jinta-kun, what are you trying to say?” Ururu asked.

“It’s just so IRRITATING!” He threw the pictures on the floor and stomped his feet. “Why are all the girls stronger than BOYS?! If our Supreme Leader wasn’t a boy, girls would have us all wiped out! But half the operatives are mama’s boys, like Mason, Anthony, even Cheren. If we don’t do something, our precious manhood will be doomed! BOYS are supposed to be the toughest, don’t you get it?!”

“It’s kind of hard to feel worried if _we’re_ girls.” Yuzu said, disbelieved.

“That’s the problem.” Jinta drooped sadly. “Fewer boys are signing up for KND and girls keep passing. Sector W7’s all girls, Sector W has more girls, and IC, and I’M the only boy in THIS sector! WELL NO MORE!” He raised his fist and shouted to the ceiling, “I’m going to redeem the masculinity this organization has lost! I’m going to restore the good name we boys had! I’m going to sign up for the GIRLS’ BOXING TOURNAMENT on Moonbase!”

Yuzu and Ururu’s mouths popped open. “You’re going to do WHAT??”

Jinta’s heart jumped. He turned around, finding Karin and Kodama gaping at him. The latter was hauling large fireworks of blue and green colors; they were anti-ectos. Karin walked up to him, “Jinta, tell me what you said just now, ’cause I don’t think I heard.”

“It’s none of your business.” He folded his arms grumpily.

“You’re going to sign up for a Girls’ Boxing Tournament?!” Karin repeated. “What sort of demon possessed you to do that?”

“Nobody! I just have a point to prove is all!”

“He’s tired of girls being the best operatives in the KND, so he wants to prove that boys are still strong.” Yuzu explained.

“I don’t care for the reason.” Karin said. “You aren’t a girl, so you’re not gonna embarrass yourself by signing up for it.”

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Jinta gritted his teeth at her. “You aren’t my mom OR my sister.”

“No, but I’m your Sector Leader.” Karin poked his chest. “And I order you not to sign up for that contest.”

“And why not?” Jinta narrowed his eyes. “Afraid I’m gonna beat up every contender? Afraid I’m gonna ruin the spotlight for you girls and make the boys realize we’re the top dogs? Well, get ready to suck it, ’cause when I win that contest, I’M becoming Sector Leader.”

“Yeah right. You wanna prove your strength, then help Kodama carry these fireworks.” Karin walked away. “The villains must be desperate for that yo-yo, and we’ll need those in case they send more ghosts. My order is final, Jinta, you’re not signing up for that tournament.”

“Huh.” Jinta spitefully grabbed one of the fireworks and carried it with Kodama.

“If it makes you feel better, she never tells me where she gets this ecto material.” Kodama mentioned.

**Outside**

The mountain was cold and cloudy under the night. Karin walked outside the treehouse, looking both directions in the lonely outside. Seeing no other life was around, she pulled out a 4x4 thermos.

 

 **Kids Next Door: T.H.E.R.M.O.S.  
T** hermos **H** olds **E** ctoplasmic **R** eincarnations **M** ostly **O** bservational **S** tudy

 

Karin aimed the T.H.E.R.M.O.S. forward and pushed “Release.” Five lanterns with whitish-blue ghostly flames flew out. The lanterns swayed in the breeze, floating in midair as the invisible phantoms glared spitefully at their captor. Before they could act, a pink-haired girl landed behind, swung a small katana, and sliced all five Poes. All that remained of them were purple souls, which the girl caught inside a bottle.

“Thanks, Karin!” The girl grinned brightly. “These souls look sooper tasty!” She had short hair of a hot pink color, a crossbones hair ribbon, red eyes with blush marks under them, and wore a black robe. She looked about 5 years old.

“Not a problem, Yachiru.” Karin replied. “We got attacked by one of the Brotherhood’s ghosts. I woulda caught ’im for you, but it got a little hectic.”

“Oh, it’s no biggie! As long as the Spirit KND can count on your support. See ya later, Karin-chan!” Yachiru waved before vanishing in a faint ray of light.

Karin smiled and waved to no one for a few seconds. She then looked down in thought. “Hmm… I wonder if I should tell them. …” She shook her head, “No. We just dealt with Yuzu’s problem, now I feel like Jinta will do something. Eh, it’s no big deal, anyway. No need to make them worried…”

**Jinta’s Room**

Jinta returned to his room and plopped onto his bed, lying on the blanket with one leg arched up. Jinta didn’t really feel sleepy, but he had to lie down to let his aggravation subside. Karin always made him angry; girls thought they were so great at everything, and knew everything, and Karin was the worst. Trying to tell him what to do. He would show her.

Jinta turned his head left, looking at the picture of his 5-year-old self, cheering and raising his arms, while sitting on the shoulder of a tall, strong, red-haired man. Still baring his grumpy features, Jinta rolled onto his right and folded his hands by his face. He merely laid in bed, waiting for himself to fall asleep. He was still wearing his day clothes, which he usually wore to bed. After all, if Jinta was going to prove his point, he needed to embrace his masculine side as much as possible. He rarely takes baths, his room has broken walls and windows from playing baseball in the house, and he trained his skin to withstand the cold wind. And tomorrow, he would keep training for the big day.

**The next day; KND Moonbase**

“HUAH! HUAH! HUAH! HUAH!” Jinta wore boxing gloves as he threw endless jabs at a punching bag in the gym room. “Nne-e-e-e-e-e-e-eh-h-h-h-h!” He unleashed a faster storm of punches before he finally stopped to catch his breath. “How many was that?”

“One hundred and forty-two in one minute…” Ururu responded, her look full of concern.

“Soooo, let me see if I got this right.” said Ruby, an alien girl with short hair, red skin, and a darker red sleeveless shirt. “You’re a boy, and you’re going to enter a girls’ boxing contest to prove boys are stronger than girls?”

“Yeah, but it ain’t gonna be as easy as it sounds.” Jinta noted, baring a fierce expression as he readied to deal more punches on the simple punching bag. “Some of those girls are pretty tough, so being a boy won’t be enough to beat them. That’s why I’ve been training every day, so I can beat ‘em ALL into submission!”

“That’s not really what I was trying to say…”

“Jinta-kun,” Ururu spoke, “don’t you think this whole plan might be a little… weird? I don’t think anybody cares if girls are stronger than boys; not even girls.”

“That’s exactly what you all want us to think!” Jinta pointed accusingly. “The truth is, girls don’t even care ’cause they think they already OWN the top spot! But I’ve seen the darker side of it all.” He turned away and clenched his teeth. “Anthony, Mason, and Cheren got shrunk by women, Vweeb is a mama’s toy, and heck, I bet that Nature Goddess wouldn’t have been what she was if she weren’t a girl. The boys have been shrinking too far from their roots, so someone needs to remind them what they were. We have to make the girls afraid.”

“Well, you made me afraid.” Ruby said with disbelief. “Not of what you said, but because of… you know.”

“Ruby!” Sapphire, an alien with dark blue skin, with long hair and a dress that covered her legs, came in. “The sign-up desk is open!”

“Cool! Thanks, Sapphy!” Ruby dashed out. Jinta was about to follow her, but then Sapphire turned to him.

“You should quit while you have the chance.” she said in her quiet, cold voice.

“Why, because I can’t beat Ruby?” Jinta questioned. “Your girlfriend may be from the sun, but I got a bigger flame under this bod, baby.” He jabbed her nose.

“Oh well.” She shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She floated after Ruby.

When Jinta and Ururu walked out to the main bridge, they saw a long line of girl operatives leading up to a desk where Melody Jackson sat. Girls such as Maddy Murphy, MaKayla King, Aranea Fulbright, Chimney, Kirie Beatles, even Makava from GKND were lining up to sign their name, numbuh, and sector. Jinta saw Cheren talking with Panini not far away from the desk. “The Third Wing Party Room is all cleared up for your contest.” Cheren told her. “And we set up the chi-blocks to prevent benders from cheating, as per _Miss Murphy’s_ suggestion.” He rolled his eyes. “Sadly, there’s nothing we can do about non-humans.”

“Eh, she’ll get over it.” Panini said simply. “Still, it must be awkward to see all of your girlfriends in one place.” She smirked wryly. “Fighting each other, no less.”

“Panini, I don’t have a close friendship with EVERY girl in the KND.” he stated. “And women fighting is typical, why should I care?”

“What up, Cheren!” Lin Beifong came up. “I heard about this contest and wanted in. I know I’m not in KND, but can I? Come oooon, buddy.”

“U-Um, I…” Cheren blushed, choking on his words. Panini smirked again. “AUGH, do whatever you want! I don’t care.”

“HEY, CHEREN! GIRLS!” Everybody looked when Jinta Hanakari stomped over. Ururu was in the background, reaching a hand out and making a ‘please don’t’ look.

“Can I… help you, Numbuh Home Run?” Cheren asked.

“You bet!” Jinta shot his index finger at him. “I WANT in this contest, too!! And I want no ifs, ands, or BUTS about it! (Except for the ones I’ll be kicking in the ring.)”

“. . .” Cheren blinked twice. He stared with wide, blank eyes. All the girls mimicked his expression. “Look, I’m not even running the contest, you’ll have to take it up with Panini.”

“HECK, NO!!” Panini shouted. “In case your derpy boy’s eyes and ears don’t work, this is a GIRLS’ Boxing Tournament.” She poked Jinta’s chest. “And you’re a BOY!!” Poked again.

“THAT’S discriminatory!” Jinta shouted back.

“IT IS NOT!” Panini got in his face. “I organized this whole thing as a way to express feminine pride, and in these types of contests, boys ALWAYS have to get _gender_ involved, one way or another. Ay want this ta be a fun, semi-clean contest where we don’t HAVE that sort of thing.”

“Pbblth!” Jinta blew a raspberry. “You’re basically saying that BOYS are the only ones who would do that sort of thing, so it’s still discriminating. I bet ALL you girls think you’re tougher or smarter than your guy friends.”

“. . . .” The line of girls were murmuring things like “Weeell…” and “We kind of do”, as well as “Anthony makes it too easy.”

“That’s right.” Jinta turned back to Panini. “You’re acting like it’s still 1959, where boys won’t let a girl on the softball team because o’ what she is. But when it’s suddenly the other way around, you aren’t any better!”

“Fine then, BOY.” Panini retorted. “Why DO you want to be in our tournament?!”

“Because you girls have been hogging the spotlight too much. You forget that the KND has BOYS who kick butt, too! But no more, you hear me?! I’m gonna wipe that smug look off ALL your faces!”

“Ugh! This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I was TALKING about!” Panini proclaimed.

“What? You mean how boys make GENDER involved? You’re already doing that by not letting us COMPETE!”

“THAT’S A DIFFERENT MATTER!”

“If you girls are really proud of yourselves, you won’t be afraid of letting a BOY fight with you! Otherwise, you’re only proving that you’re scared. Scared of a single boy standing up to your secret reign and showing all the other boys that we can be strong, too. And once they learn that, you’ll never be able to hold the spotlight again. Because deep down, you know, we are AWESOME.”

“B-But- That- You can’t- J-, Nn-…” Panini was lost in her own words. “FINE!! Just because I think you’re metaphorically funny, Ay’ll MAKE an exception for ya! GET IN LINE and SIGN the roster!”

“YES!” He went to do so.

“BOOOOO!” The girls in line were suddenly roaring with protests.

“SHUT UP, ya whiny idiots!” Pan shouted. “He wants to embarrass himself, Ay say let ’im go!”

By the time it was Jinta’s turn to sign, Melody asked him, “If you sign up, you know this is going all over KNN, right?”

“I hope it does!” Jinta signed up.

“Well-p, there’s tonight’s story.” With that done, Melody gathered up all the papers into a stack. “The tournament begins tomorrow at… we’ll send an email for specific Time Zones. Hope to see you all there and good luck.”

“I won’t even need it.” Jinta smirked proudly. All the girls were glaring at him with malice, except Ruby and Ururu, who seemed like they wanted to pretend to have no association with him.

**Sector JP**

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Karin swung her fist and punched Jinta in the chin. “I TOLD you not to sign up for that contest. Now you’re ALL over the fucking news! Do you ever ONCE think something through before you do it?”

“Well, ipso facto, Karin, why do you even CARE?” Jinta rubbed his sore chin. “Afraid I’ll beat you in the contest, too?”

“For your information, I didn’t wanna enter the contest because I don’t care. But you won’t just make YOURSELF look bad, you’re embarrassing all of us in Sector JP. The actions of one operative represents the whole team, you know.”

“That’s a load of bull! Like, if Ururu couldn’t defeat 10 guards, then none of us could?”

“Ugh!” Karin face-palmed. “Jinta, you’re setting a bad example for your team by violating the rules this way! All those girls are gonna hate you and they’ll hate us, too. And if we get bumped below Sector RZ on the Top 10, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

“But Karin, doesn’t the winner of the contest get an extra 50 points for their sector?” Yuzu asked.

“Yeah, Karin, wouldn’t you like that?” Jinta queried mockingly. “Won’t you like having the top spot like all girls do?”

“The Top 10 list represents our fortitude and our loyalty to the KND.” Karin argued. “It’s based on how well we perform on missions and how well we work as a team. As Sector Leader, it’s my job to see that our score increases, which can’t happen if my teammates don’t know how to follow orders and make us LOOK bad. Jinta, if you don’t drop out of this contest, I’m dropping you from the team!”

“Karin!” Yuzu yelled reprovingly.

“Karin, what you fail to understand is that we men have a sense of _pride_ that we must live by. I picked me a fight. I chose to. Now, I’m going back tomorrow so I can do said fight. If I were to just ‘drop out,’ I’d be a greater laughing stock than if I went.”

“Well, I’M NOT gonna watch you. And after you lose, don’t feel free to come back to this treehouse.”

“I’m not even gonna feel free to STAY here!” Jinta declared before marching away. “I can’t sleep in a GIRLY environment if I’m gonna win this thing.”

After they watched him leave, Yuzu asked her sister, “Karin, don’t you think you’re being a little hard on Jinta-kun? I know he’s a troublemaker, but no matter what happens, he’s still our friend.”

“Yuzu, you can’t tell me you want to see Jinta compete in this thing?”

“Well, I admit it _would_ be a little silly.” She touched a finger to her chin. “But as his teammates, I think we should be supportive of Jinta.”

“He’s trying to prove that BOYS are stronger than GIRLS!” Kodama exclaimed. “Stronger than US! How can we support that??”

“I know that’s how it _seems_ …” Yuzu replied insightfully, “but maybe the reason Jinta feels he needs to do this is because he feels sensitive around us. His only close friends are girls and not boys, so he feels like he needs to get in touch with his roots. And boys like to pick on girls, so… what can you do?”

“I’m not supporting him in this.” Karin stated. “If he wants to be a boy among tomboys, then I ain’t getting involved. Anyway… I’m gonna have me some chips and soda. You girls want any?”

“I’ll take!” Kodama happily followed her.

**Moonbase; the following day**

“GIRLLLLLLS and GIRLLLLLLS!” Panini roared into the microphone. “Are you all ready ta THROW DOWN and watch Kids Next Door’s TOUGHEST females duke it out in classic, old-school fist fights?!”

“YEAAAAHHHH!” the all-female audience cheered.

“Then get ready to _RUMBLLLLLE-!”_

“GIVE ME THAT!” Melody shoved Panini away when an awful ringing came from the stereos. “I’m sorry, Panini, but your voice is not meant to magnify.” Panini walked away sadly. “Ahem…” The KNN news anchor wore a shorter white shirt that showed her belly, black shorts, and had a white headband around her forehead. She announced spiritedly, “Welcome, girls of KND, to the First Official KND Girls’ Boxing Tournament! Girls from any and all sectors have come to compete, including some from GKND and some non-ops. As well as a, um… certain guest. So, get some snacks if you haven’t yet, because in five minutes, we will begin the first round!”

The competitors were inside the next room, dressed in boxing gear as they did mini exercises like bending, stretching, or jabbing their fists. Each of them had trainers who were massaging their shoulders, counting their punches, or being sparring partners: Chimney was trying to hit Aisa, Ruby tried to break her arms free of Sapphire’s psychic, Haruka and Kirie were performing a graceful dance, etc..

They were still making detestable glances at Jinta, who was doing push-ups. The single boy wore only blue shorts and red boxing gloves, and a white towel around his neck. He stood up to drink some water from his bottle, then glanced at the sign on the wall.

__

_Rules of the Ring:_  
_No Bending_  
_No Trash-Talk_  
_No Weird Powers_  
_NO BOYS_

“Peh!” Jinta stuck his tongue out. Ruby approached him from behind.

“At least you didn’t rely on playing _Smash Brothers_ to be your training.” she commented.

“I’m not THAT dumb, Ruby.” He smirked. “Honestly, if I was going against you, I knew I had to be ready. And that’s a compliment.”

“Well, I hope you give me a challenge, then.”

“Ruby, you’re up.” Sapphire told her.

“Alright! Wish me luck, Jinta!” She went to do her match.

“Hmph!” Jinta was still smirking and jabbing his fists. “GYAH!” He flinched when two familiar hands grabbed his shoulders. “URURU!” He whipped around and backed away from the girl. “Don’t freaking put me to sleep, I have a match comin’!!”

“No, Jinta! I’m just trying to massage you.” She calmly approached and lightly began flexing his shoulders. “It’s not the same as my knock-out one.”

“Er…” Jinta flushed slightly. Ururu was very close to him, and her hands were gentle. “W-Why…?”

“Even if this whole thing is weird… you’re my friend, Jinta, and I want to support you. And I…I hope you win.”

“Ururu…” He stared into her large, adorable purple-blue eyes. He inched his face closer to hers without realizing. “Nnnnn!” He shook his head and backed away. “Thanks, Ururu, but I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, Jinta-kun…” She blushed. “It is you, I guess. Well, let’s go watch Ruby’s battle.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s TIME, all you girls, for the first match of the bout!” Melody announced in the center of the ring. “In the red corner, from Sector Kamabaka, a Solaran transfer from GKND, it’s Numbuh One Half, RUBY!” The alien girl roared proudly and raised her arms to everyone’s cheers. “In the blue corner, the decommissioner with the circular head, Numbuh 59x58, MADDY MURPHY!”

“It’s 58x59!” Maddy yelled.

“STILL the same numbers as your brother, NOT my fault! Now, the rules are simple, your only weapons are your arms and fists. The room is chi-blocked to prevent accidental bending, so one only has their physical strength to rely on. When a fighter is knocked down, they’ll have 10 seconds to get up or GET OUT. Are we all clear? Then get ready to BATTLLLLE!”

The bell dinged, so Ruby ran at Maddy to throw punches, which she nimbly dodged while throwing a few swings at Ruby’s face. The alien ducked one, punched Maddy’s face, then roared as she unleashed a barrage of furious punches at the human girl. With one last chest punch, Maddy was down on her back. Ruby turned and waved her arms in victory. “One… two…” Melody began counting over Maddy, but said girl got back on her feet as she ran to punch the back of Ruby’s head. The alien stumbled forward, but quickly recovered before sending Maddy skyward with an upper-cut. Maddy landed on all fours, looking up at her opponent before Ruby punched her down. After the 10-second count,

“THE WINNER IS RUBY!” Melody raised the Solaran’s arm. Maddy helped herself up and scoffed in anger before leaving. “Up next, from Sector Virginia, the raccoon girl with the tail that twirls, Numbuh Sub-23 Sheila Frantic!” The wereraccoon bore a casual, half-interested frown (implying her confidence) as Aurora fixed the punching gloves on her. “Versus, from Sector Water 7, the large mouth with the flying train, Numbuh W473R Chimney!”

“Good luck, Chim!” Aisa cheered.

“You bet! NYAAAAHH!” Chimney ran to throw quick punches, but Sheila leapt overhead and wrapped her arms around Chimney’s neck. She tried to lift the Sector Leader, but Chimney reached her own arms back to wrap Sheila’s neck. Both were trying to hoist the other with every ounce of strength. Eventually, they fell over and around, resulting in Chimney being pinned under Sheila’s weight. “One, two, three…” Melody began counting as both girls still gripped the other’s neck. “The winner is Sheila!” The raccoon got up and smiled excitedly, while Chimney lay with her tongue drooped out.

“Can you even do that in boxing?” Aisa asked.

“Who cares, it was awesome!” Aurora cheered.

“Next, also from Sector V, the girl who’s silent and deadly, Numbuh 0-V Kirie Beatles!” Kirie’s eyes were closed as she bowed politely, and Haruka gave a thumbs-up. “From Sector West Virginia, she’s short, stealthy and sassy, Numbuh 77 Aranea Fulbright!” Aranea made rock star poses as her trainer, Sally Harper giggled. “Start rumbling!”

Kirie, who wore a green one-piece with black shorts, twirled gracefully on her socked feet, dancing and dodging Aranea’s fists. Aranea was feisty for her short size, reflected in her fast punches, but Kirie’s form was excellent. She dodged with nary a dent in her clothes or skin, and after six minutes had passed, Aranea was tired. Kirie decided to seize the weakness, punching Nea in the chest three times before she fell. Kirie was announced the winner, and Sally shrugged.

“From Sector Rozeland, she’s fiery, feisty, and for some reason loves the moon, Numbuh 6.01 Diwata Uno!” The blonde, brown-eyed girl was dancing while Leanne Grayson cheered. “From KND Moonbase, a psychic wonder like her sister, Numbuh January-14 Darcy Chariton!” As Sunni was fixing her sister’s ponytail, Darcy waved to her fans. “Get it on!”

Diwata made use of her speed to throw swift punches at her opponent, but Darcy dodged before punching Dee’s gut and sending her back. Diwata recovered and rushed headfirst at Darcy, but just before ramming her, she ducked and punched up at her chin, and during this weak moment, Diwata swung two punches across Darcy’s head. The Chariton fell over, but after a few seconds, she shot up and punched Dee-Dee in the nose, knocking her down. She smirked at her opponent, waiting for her to stand, and Dee-Dee did so, grabbing Darcy’s waist to flip her overhead and slam her head on the ring floor. Darcy dizzily tried to recover, but Dee-Dee punched her senseless. Dee-Dee did a rock star dance when she was announced the winner.

“From the Avatar Realms, she’s not in KND, but still a good girlfriend of Cheren,” Melody winked, “meet the talented metalbender, Lin Beifong!” The earthbender stomped her foot and pretended to raise a boulder. “From GKND, a half-Glomourian/Kateenian, Numbuh 4 Feet Makava Longname!” Makava waved to her fans as her trainer, Arianna was clapping.

Both non-Earthican girls ran and grabbed each other’s arms before trying to shove the other. Lin’s feet were more firm, so she was able to push Makava into her corner pole. Arianna clapped her hands over her mouth in horror and concern. Makava recovered and ran at Lin again, but the earthbender dodged as she punched and knocked Makava on her front. She proceeded to stand on Makava in victory, and this win was assured when Melody finished the count. “I’m sorry, Makava!” Arianna yelled. “It’s my fault. I’m a terrible trainer!”

“Relax, Arianna…” Makava grunted, still trapped under Lin’s feet. “This ain’t a high moment for me, either.”

“From Sector Iceland, she’s a timebender who’s more than she seems, Numbuh High Noon MaKayla King!” MaKayla waved happily, and her trainer, Lola had confidence in her. “From Sector Dressrosa, she’s more than she seems too, Numbuh Sweetie-1 Aeral Sarah!” The weapons girl blushed as people cheered for her. “Throw down!”

MaKayla ran at Sarah, but the weapons girl morphed her right glove into a metal club and BASHED Kayla’s head. She was now on the floor, bleeding. “DISQUALIFIED!!” Melody shouted. “No powers, that was a rule!”

“YOU LET A BOY IN!” Sarah shouted. “Why can’t I use powers!!”

“THIS is why! Now LEAVE!”

“Well… if you need me to.” She blushed. With that, Sarah climbed out and left the room, with the audience members “BOO”ing behind her.

Melody helped MaKayla up. “Are you okay? I can take you outside and heal you.”

“S-Sure, sure. Thanks.” Kayla allowed Melody to guide her.

Panini took the microphone while Melody was aiding Kayla. “Well, ahem, after that unfortunate bout, it’s time to introduce our special guest. From Sector Japan, he is an annoying BOY who insisted on competing, for some stoopid boy reason, Numbuh Home Run Jinta Hanakari.” The girls yelled in protest again when Jinta climbed into the ring, jabbing fists at the air. “From Sector Gravity Falls, she’s very large for her age, and unquestionably strong, Numbuh Pounds Grenda!”

“ALL RIGHT!” The large and beefy gal yelled in her deep rough voice. Mabel Pines was massaging her muscles. “It’s Grenda time!”

Jinta looked worriedly at the large girl. “You sure you aren’t a boy, too?”

“THRASH HIM!” Pan yelled.

“RAAAAH!” Grenda charged and grabbed Jinta in a very tight hug. His arms were binded, and Jinta’s face turned blue as he choked. “Well, ladies, it looks like Jinta’s glory is all naught.” Panini smiled simply.

 _No! I can’t lose now! Gotta think…_ “Hey, Grenda.” Jinta spoke so weakly, only she could hear him. “Cheren told me… he would go out with you if you threw the match for me.”

“HE _DID_?!” Grenda threw him on the floor. “CHEREN! I’m coming, Cutie!” Grenda ran away, ramming one of the corner poles and flipping the entire ring over with her strength. She kept running and breaking down all the metal walls.

Jinta crawled out from under the turned-over ring. “W-Well, um…” Panini stuttered in confusion. “Since Grenda forfeits the match, Ay guess… Jinta is the winner.”

“YEEEEAAAAH!” Jinta cheered as the girls were booing. “HAIL the KING!”

“A’right, _King_ , help us get this ring back up so we can get on with this.”

When the ring was placed right-side-up, Melody was back to announce. “From Sector Saudi Arabia, can she punch as well as she kicks? Numbuh 401 Morgiana!” The girl in question had magenta hair and eyes, wearing only a white shirt and shorts, and had an emotionless frown. “Versus, from the Land of… Boobledehumps, Sector _Poop_ , her name is… Numbuh Gibbidy Gooshwan?”

This person wore a very tight, white dress. Even her head was shrouded, but she danced slow and sensually, swaying her rear. The bell dinged: Morgiana kicked off her corner pole and flew at Gooshwan like a rocket. The mystery girl panicked and ran right. Morgiana chased her with a determined expression, swinging her right fist to make the girl wobble toward the center. Morgiana leapt, kicked off the ceiling, and brought her fist down on Gooshwan’s head. She fell on the floor as her mask came off. _His_ long ears and slug eyes were exposed.

“JAR JAR BLINKS?!” Panini screamed. “What are ya DOING here?!”

Jar Jar’s lips whimpered. “I jush wanted to have BABIESH! Won’t anyone have babiesh wit’ me? PWEEEEEAAAASE!”

Jar Jar was shoved into the garbage pipe, and- “WEEEEEEEEE!” was fired into space.

“Um… okay… The winner is Morgiana!” Melody raised the Arabian girl’s arm.

“Now she’s someone I want in our sector.” Aisa remarked, while Chimney still lay beside her.

“Okay, girls, let’s get ready for ROUND TWO!” Melody announced. “But just for fun, let’s go a little out of order! First, we’ll pit Kirie Beatles against Diwata Uno! Let’s get started!”

Diwata merely stood in place while Kirie was dancing peacefully, likely intending to use the same stratagem as before. “One time, I burned all the Rainbow Monkeys in my local toy store.” Dee-Dee said.

Eyes burning like fire, Kirie attacked Diwata with rage in her fists. Diwata ran around happily and dodged all the fists. Dee-Dee managed to avoid the furious Beatles for at least 10 minutes. Kirie finally got tired and fainted on her own. Dee shrugged when she was announced the winner.

“You feeling okay, MaKayla?” Melody asked the timebender. She smiled and nodded. “Great! Because you’re up against Lin!” Said earthbender climbed in the opposite corner. The bell dinged, and both girls got in fighting stances. They finally charged and began swinging punches at the other. They both took several hits to the face, but still had plenty of strength to spare.

“For the record, I love your world’s culture.” MaKayla panted.

“Thanks.” Lin took a punch. “I’m not spiritual, though. I like your world better.”

“Wanna trade places?”

“Naaah.”

After five minutes of repetitive punching, the girls backed away and stared at each other, gasping for breath and sweating. With a moment to recharge, they ran for one final punch at the other. Both fists struck the other’s face simultaneously. With that, they were both down. Melody declared the match a draw.

“Now, back to our self-proclaimed superstar boy, it’s Jinta Hanakari vs. Morgiana!”

Jinta looked eager to fight from his corner, but Morgiana stood still and gave him a cold stare. The Japanese boy ran and threw punches at her chest, but Morgiana stood strong before throwing a punch that knocked Jinta down. Jinta growled and got up to punch her in the face, but Morgiana punched him across the head, spinning him around, then punched his back to make him fall. With that, Morgiana planted a foot on his back, and Jinta found himself unable to push her off. “One… two… three… four…” Melody counted.

“Get off me… stupid girl!” Jinta was trying to push up.

“You lose.” Morg stated coldly.

“Seven… eight!…”

“Hnnnnn!…” Jinta used every ounce of strength to push the floor. “YAAAH!” Morgiana was taken aback when Jinta succeeded in pushing her back. Now back on his feet, Jinta punched her in the face, then leapt overhead to stand on the corner pole. He held both fists together, leapt down, and slammed both down on her head. Melody began counting over the fallen Morg, and to the girls’ dismay, Jinta was the winner.

“Our last match before the semifinals!” Melody announced. “Ruby vs. Sheila Frantic!”

“Bring it on, Raccoon!” Ruby fist-palmed.

“Too bad for you,” Sheila smirked, “the gloves are coming off this round.” Indeed, her gloves were off as she cracked her bare knuckles. “AAAAAAHHH!” She spun her right arm rapidly and ran at her opponent.

“Sheila, wait-!” Aurora yelled.

Sheila PUNCHED Ruby with terrific force, several teeth flying out of her mouth. Ruby flew out of the ring and through the room’s large window. “AAAAAHHHH!” She spun as she flew into the depths of space.

“Ruby!” Sapphire flew after her.

The Solaran landed in the arms of Jar Jar Blinks. “RUBISH! I-sa LOVE ta have babies with you! MWWWWwwwwww!” He swallowed her face in smooch.

“AAAAHH! HEEEELP!”

“HAHA!” Sheila fist-pumped. “Who’s the Queen of Punching?”

“Um, Sheila, impressive as that was…” Panini walked up and touched her shoulder, “you need to wear your gloves.”

“I ain’t gonna wear those stinking things forever! My fists are FREE, Mate!”

“Be that as it may, you’re disqualified.”

“EH, bother.” She brushed it off and climbed out of the ring. “No one uses rules in the real world, anyway.”

“Time to start the semis, with Jinta vs. Diwata!”

The bell dinged, and when Diwata ran at Jinta, the boy jumped on the corner pole and ran across the ropes. Dee-Dee jumped up there with him, both smirking as they kept balance. Dee-Dee punched at his legs, but Jinta jumped and shook the ropes upon his landing. Diwata punched his face, and Jinta fell onto his front in the ring as Dee jumped on his back and punched his head down. Jinta suddenly rolled and pushed her off, back on his feet as he ran at her, but Dee-Dee dodged. He ran into the ropes and bounced toward her, punching Dee in the face as she fell. She rolled on her front and punched his left leg, so he knelt down, and Dee smiled as she got up and punched his face.

Melody was beginning to count while Diwata blew kisses to her fans. Jinta smirked and got up to smash Dee’s head between both his fists. Dizzy, the girl fell down, and Jinta was victorious.

“And now… our final match.” Melody declared. “The one to decide who is the strongest: Jinta Hanakari… vs. Ruby.”

After the Solaran was rescued from space, she was ready to battle, smirking at Jinta with holes in her teeth. “This ain’t gonna be like _Smash Brothers_.” she told him. “Today, I’ll smash you for real.”

“Sorry, Eternal Flame… but I burn with a real passion.”

“And begin!” The bell dinged. Jinta threw the first punches, but Ruby dodged and dealt her storm of punches on his bare chest. She hit his chin and knocked him down, then dodged when he got up to punch back. Jinta flipped overhead when Ruby came at him, and when she turned, Jinta threw rapid punches at her stomach. Ruby felt her stomach tighten, and Jinta seized the chance to knock her down with a face punch. Ruby got up again, and both circled around before Ruby punched his face, and Jinta punched hers.

Both opponents grabbed the other’s fists and began to push. Ruby lifted Jinta overhead and slammed him on his back. She stood on his stomach and smirked, but Jinta brought his fists up to punch her legs. She fell on her back as Jinta recovered, then Ruby did the same before they exchanged fists again. With that, both grabbed the other’s shoulders and began another shoving contest.

“Feeling tired yet… Jinta?” Ruby panted.

“Nope… My passion… is still burning!”

“Even if you beat me, there’s still tons of tough girls out there. This is only gonna make them wanna come after you. Can you really defend your pride from all of them?”

“If they come at me a hundred to one… that means I succeeded. I proved to them… that there are some boys worth worrying about. We will… be recognized again!”

Jinta weakened his own grip so Ruby would push him against the ropes, but she lost balance with the sudden shift in force. Jinta punched her head against his chest, then pulled her off before punching left-and-right across her face. Combining both fists, Jinta punched in the face and knocked her down. “One, two, three…” Melody counted. The girls pleaded Ruby to get up, but the Solaran stayed down. “Um… as much as I hate to say it… Jinta Hanakari is the winner.”

“YYYYYYEEEEAAAAAAH!” Jinta cheered over all the angered girls. “That’s right, girls! The boys have RISEN again! Make sure all the dudes of KND know, our awesomeness is not forgotten! We will-!”

“WAIT!” Panini called. “We have a last-minute extra contestant!”

“WHAT?!” Jinta exclaimed. “WHO?”

Karin Kurosaki climbed into the ring. She wore a white T-shirt, black shorts, and was shoeless. “You may be stronger than THIS bunch of girls, Jinta,” Karin began, “but the sad truth is, you’re still under the command of your female Sector Leader. It’s time I reminded you that.”

“H-Hold on! You said you didn’t sign up for this!”

“I don’t care about the contest.” She cracked her bare knuckles. “As Sector JP Leader, I need to discipline my operatives. So, what’ll it be, Jinta? You gonna obey me and get on the ship, or will I have to make you?”

“Er…” Jinta shook his head and readied himself. “Give me your best shot.”

The bell dinged. Jinta ran to throw punches, but Karin dodged her head, ducked, and punched up at his gut. The force of her bare fist made him hack out spit, and teeth flew out when she punched him in the jaw. Jinta fell down as Karin stood over him. “Fine, so you beat a couple of girls in a punching game, wearing gloves. What about the ones who like to get their hands dirty? And don’t get me started on the ones who have powers.”

Gritting his teeth, Jinta got up to punch, but Karin ducked and spin-kicked Jinta off his feet. He got up for an upper-cut, but Karin pressed both hands on the fist and pushed herself upward, then caught his neck between her legs. Jinta tried to lift her off, then fell back and hit the floor. He got up and whipped around, and after Karin got up, they both locked arms and pushed.

“You know, Jinta, there’s one thing about this tournament you overlooked.” Karin grinned devilishly.

“What?” He glared back.

“This is a girls’ boxing tournament. Which means there’s no ‘Below the belt’ rule.”

“Huh?”

At that instant, Karin balled her right fist, pulled it back, and- “UUOOOOOHHH!” punched Jinta between the legs. He choked out spit and folded both gloved hands over the spot.

Karin dodged behind, grabbed Jinta’s shoulders, turned him to face the center of the ring, and pushed him on his front. While Jinta was still holding his weak spot, Karin proceeded to sit on his back, facing his legs as she grabbed his ankles, pulled them up, and crossed them like an ‘X’. “Aaaaaahhhhhh…!” Jinta moaned when Karin bent his crossed legs farther. He tried to lift his head up, but Karin bent her right foot back and placed it on to pin his head down.

The girls were all giggling at Jinta’s silly and humiliating position. Melody came and called, “One, two, three-”

“No!” Jinta fought the weight of Karin’s foot and struggled to raise his head. “I’m not. . . out yet! . .”

“There’s no way out of this, Jinta-kun.” Karin stated, holding his legs in place. “You can either concede or listen to all these girls giggle at the awkward state your arms are in.”

“I…I won’t!…” Jinta bit his teeth as he applied more pressure to keeping his head raised. “I need to… for all the future men of KND… for all men everywhere!… I have to… win!…”

“Give up, Jinta. It’s hopeless.”

“Never! I will never give in to a girl… as long as I live!…” The pain was becoming too much.

“No matter what you do, Jinta, there will always be girls who are stronger than guys. It won’t matter how strong you become, because you’ll always have an obvious weak spot!”

“Nooo…” Jinta was beginning to tear. He made a sniffle as his tears soaked the ring’s floor. “If I don’t defend… my manhood… I’ll be a disgrace… just like… my dad…”

Karin glanced to him, hearing this. She made a low, aggravated sigh. Wanting to end this contest, she gripped his hair in her toes, bent her leg up to pull his head with, then smashed his head facefirst on the floor.

“One, two, three, four, five, six- Eh, he’s done.” Melody shrugged. “The winner is Karin Kurosaki!” She raised the victorious girl’s arm as all the operatives cheered. Karin released and climbed off of Jinta as she went to go claim the reward.

“I warned you.” Sapphire told him softly. She left the room with Ruby.

The red-haired boy played dead until everyone was gone.

**Later…**

After getting back in her normal clothes and washing her hands, Karin returned to the ring. Jinta was sitting cross-legged, facing the opposite wall. “Hey.” Karin called. Jinta, wearing a pouty face, ignored her. There was pain still between his legs, so he tried to hide it with this crossed position. “Jinta, I didn’t mean it about not coming back to the treehouse. One way or another, you’re still my teammate. Now stop acting like a baby and let’s go home. I can smell you from here, you need a bath.”

“I’ll stay here as long as I want.” He turned and glanced at her with his right eye, his teeth clenched. “I’m not leaving ‘til this place is empty.”

“Moonbase has a night shift, dumbass, it’ll never be empty. Time Zones and stuff. Jinta, what did you think winning this contest would accomplish? Just because you won, you would be stronger than any and every girl in the universe?”

“I would’ve set an example!” He turned his head around further to glare at her. “I would’ve reminded all the boys that we still got a spot in this world! But not only did you ruin it, you completely humiliated me in front of the whole KND!” He faced forward again. “I’ll never be able to show myself to anyone again.”

“First of all, this plan didn’t even make sense.” Karin walked over and crossed her arms over the ring’s rope, leaning forward. “I mean, yes girls are better than boys, but half the sectors are still led by boys, and nobody else is getting mad over gender stuff. I mean… what was the point of this?”

Jinta said nothing. Karin stared at him for a few seconds. “What was it that you said before?” she asked. “Something about your dad…?”

“…” Jinta turned to her slightly. “My mom was really mean and she ordered my dad around a lot. She divorced my dad because he was a ‘failure as a man.’ Before that, I saw her come home with some strange guy and…”

Karin raised a brow. She hadn’t heard this story. “…It’s none of your business, why am I telling you!” Jinta huffed, turning away.

Karin climbed in and sat beside him. “Well, whatever the case, Jinta, a real man wouldn’t just sit here in his own filth after getting his butt kicked by a girl. He would stand up and keep walking forward. No matter how many girls kick him down or laugh at him, a man has to brush it off and keep walking. …They would also take a bath to avoid rotting to death. Whaddya say, Jinta?”

“…” Jinta glanced at Karin, who had the proud expression of someone who had full confidence in her own words. …Of course, that same person had the pleasure of kicking his butt for the whole KND to laugh at. What had she to worry about?

“Whatever.” Jinta stood up and walked out of the room. “I don’t need anyone’s pity.”

Karin quietly sighed and began to follow him out, glad she at least managed to get him to come home.

**Sector JP Treehouse; the day after**

After taking a bath and removing his manly stench, Jinta was still in his room. He chose to lie on bed until everyone eventually forgot his failure.

“Um… Jinta-kun?” He heard Ururu’s soft voice, and the patting of her bare feet walking across his floor. “I don’t know if you’re still upset, but… even after what happened, I really admire you for standing up for your feelings. Even if it was a bit… silly.” She blushed. “Jinta-kun, it doesn’t really matter who is stronger, because you’re strong on your own. You should use that strength to protect the boys and girls who _are_ weak. Like…Like me.” She blushed more.

Jinta turned his head to her slightly. “Remember how you always beat up those bullies when we were little?” Ururu continued. “You were stronger than me and you protected me. You inspired me to try and be strong, too. That’s why I signed up for CND Training. But no matter how much I trained to fight, I was always too small and weak. Then I invented the Tiny Devil suit with GKND’s technology, and turned my tiny size into strength. Now I can fight beside you as an equal, Jinta. But I know you’ll always be stronger than me.”

“You don’t understand, Ururu.” He told her. “I was standing up for the pride of all men everywhere. But I ruined it, not just for me, but for all men. All the KND’s girls are laughing at all the boys, now the boys are sulking in shame and it’s all my fault. The best thing I can do is stay away from them.”

“Jinta-kun…”

“Leave him alone, Ururu.” Karin said, standing in the doorway with Yuzu. “You can’t stop a boy from whining.”

“Jinta-kun?” Yuzu walked up with a paper. “An operative delivered this letter. They want you to come to Moonbase ASA now.”

“Probably in trouble for entering a girls’ tournament.” Karin figured. “Maybe next time, you’ll listen.”

“Huh.” Jinta grabbed the paper and hopped out of bed, stomping away in anger. “Better than staying here with you girls.”

“Jinta, when’re you gonna get over yourself?” Karin questioned. “Most girls are better than boys, but other boys are better than girls. Why are you the only one that gives a damn?”

“The problem is that other boys DON’T give a damn! They’re treating it like it’s no big deal, and now they never will ’cause of you! I don’t care if you’re my leader, Karin, why don’t you butt out sometimes?”

“J-Jinta-kun, I’ll drive you!” Ururu ran after him. “You can’t fly a ship, so…”

“What are you going to do about him, Karin?” Yuzu shook her head in disbelief.

“Well, I could always try shrinking him. Maybe…”

**Moonbase**

Jinta followed the instructions on the letter and journeyed to a back area of Moonbase. Girl guards were laughing at him and making fake threatening poses. Jinta made it to a door that was labeled _Private_. He sighed to himself and walked in.

“JINTAAAAAA!” He jumped in shock when the room full of boys from many sectors roared his name. “There’s our man of the hour!” Chris Uno punched his shoulder.

“Praise our hero of the KND!” George King raised his arm.

“He’s the guy who kicks BUTT!” Anthony McKenzie punched his fists and kicked a foot.

“Uhhhh… what’s going on here?” Jinta asked.

“You stood up for what we all BELIEVED, Dude!” Dillon York proclaimed. “Those girls are WAY too monstrous for their own good! And why are they so badass?! My sister is a freaking videogame character!”

“Half of us take after our MOMS!” Terry Stork groaned. “It’s SHAMEFUL! I have no reason to admire my mom!”

“Yeah, and trust me, being the only boy in Gravity Falls is no joyride.” Dipper Pines remarked. “The only other is Gideon, and he’s… Sigh, I don’t even know.”

“This was the start of a revolution, Dude.” Chris wrapped an arm around him. “When you did what you did, you showed the girls what was coming! You showed ’em we boys ain’t out of the game, yet! That’s why we’re gonna challenge ’em to a Boys v. Girls Wrestling/Boxing Extravaganza! It’s gonna be a no holds bard to PROVE who’s the BEEEEEEST!”

“And we wouldn’t have got up the courage to do it if not for you!” Vweeb jumped up on Jinta’s shoulder. “You’re the man, Jinta Hanakari! Lead us to glory!”

“You guys…” Jinta couldn’t believe it. It was so sudden, how his dream had come true. He never felt such a feeling before. A feeling of true pride. …Tears escaped his eyes. “I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUUUUCH!”

“JINTAAAAAA!” All of the boys were crying. Chris, George, Anthony, and Vweeb hugged Jinta close. Tears of pride and joy filled the room. They released the emotions that expressed their manhood. They would always stand together. No matter how much girls overshadowed them, or how much they were humiliated, they would always have each other.

Harry Gilligan and Hibiki Lates sat in a corner, reading books with disbelieved expressions. “I don’t know why I came.” Harry said.

“Me, either.”

 

**Pretty much, I wanted the plot of this chapter to be kind of funny. I think this is the sort of conflict Jinta would be concerned about, and he kind of makes sense, considering… girls are badass in this series. Ruby and Sapphire are from _Steven Universe_ , Morgiana is from _Magi_ , Lin Beifong’s from _Legend of Korra_ , and that Hibiki guy at the end is from _Fairy Tail_. Solve this Caesar Cryptogram, and stay tuned for Ururu’s chapter!**

**…**

**_FKHUHQ FDQQRW MRLQ WKH PHQ’V FOXE_ **

**_KH VXIIHUHG D VSLQDO LQMXUB_ **  


  



	4. Ururu's Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Ururu is trying to think of a way to confess her feelings to Jinta, he surprisingly asks her on a date!

**Today’s chapter doesn’t have much action, and it’s mostly a cool-down. It is Ururu, after all. XD Caesar cryptogram.**

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Chapter 4: Ururu’s Feelings

_**

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**Sector JP Treehouse**

It was raining heavily over Karakura Town tonight, so the JP members stayed safe in their treehouse. While Yuzu was doing laundry and Kodama was experimenting with waterproof fireworks, Karin was playing _Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Adventure_ on her 4DS; the sequel to _Tri Force Heroes_ , but with an actual storyline. She was sitting on the couch with her legs arched up, wearing her white T-shirt with pink pajama shorts.

She saw Jinta Hanakari come into the living room, his hair wet after just taking a shower. “Hey, Jinta.” she called. “You wanna try and get more Rupees than me?”

Jinta shrugged. “Okay.”

He got his own DS and sat on the opposite side of the couch from Karin. His legs were also arched up so his and Karin’s feet were next to each other in the center. They were silently staring at their screens for several minutes, and the only sounds were of Link’s sword in sync with their button taps. “…So, Jinta… you’re not still mad about the boxing tournament, are you?”

“Hm?” He glanced up briefly before refocusing on his game. “Why would I still be mad?”

“Because I made it look like you were-”

A firework explosion went off in Kodama’s room the moment Karin said that.

“…Oh. Not really, I’m not mad.”

“Oh.” Karin said simply. They kept playing in silence for several seconds. “…I’m sorry.” Jinta glanced up with a brow raised. “I didn’t approve of what you were doing, but… what I did was wrong. You didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that. I hope you can forgive me…”

Jinta smirked, detecting a soft spot in her iron will. He kicked her between the legs, Karin starting and blushing. “You think I want your apology? You got lucky because I was worn out from beating those other girls. In a real fair fight, I’d punch you senseless.”

“Hmm.” Karin spared him a wry smirk. They kept playing their game, mashing buttons faster to outbest the other. Almost out of nowhere, they had a drive to beat each other, and they enjoyed the competition. In the end, there was a victor.

“YES!” Jinta cheered. “Bask in my wealthy glory, Karin!”

“Mmm.” Karin rolled her eyes. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, even though you’re an idiot, you’re still a member of my team. So your slip-ups are mine.”

“Yeah, maybe they are. Be a better leader.” he retorted.

“Shut up.” Karin lightly kicked one of his knees.

“Heheh.” Jinta kicked hers. They both made little laughs as they kept throwing kicks.

From the dark of the hallway, Ururu Tsumugiya watched with a downtrodden expression. Dressed in a yellow pajama shirt and pants, Ururu quietly walked to her room, climbed in bed, and tried to fall asleep. She hugged a small, stuffed lion plushy, giving herself makeshift comfort that the storm wouldn’t get her. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing keeping her up. “Sigh…”

**Kodama’s room, the next day**

_“When are you gonna tell Jinta how you feel?”_ Kodama’s voice asked through the earpiece in Ururu’s Tiny Devil.

“Because I’m afraid he’ll laugh at me.” Ururu replied softly, fixing a few tiny parts within the firework’s structure.

_“Why would he laugh at you? I mean, I know he’s Jinta, but I thought you two knew each other well enough.”_

“We do. It’s just, ever since we were little, I was the small and helpless one that needed protection, and I was burdening him for that. Even if I don’t need it so much now, I’m not sure if he feels very differently about me. He probably likes strong, take-charge girls like Karin. That’s why he’s Ruby’s friend. And after getting to watch all those girls in the tournament, he wouldn’t find someone like me very interesting.”

_“Don’t be silly, Ururu, any guy would find you adorable! You’re cute as a bug!”_

“Heheheh.” Ururu blushed, having been the core of many small-related jokes.

_“I’m all finished out here. How’s it look in there?”_

“It looks great. I’m coming out.”

Kodama watched as the fly-size girl flew out of a large red firework with yellow swirly stripes. Ururu stretched back to normal size and landed on the floor, taking her helmet off. “I met Jinta-kun before the tournament to massage his shoulders, and… it looked like we were about to kiss.” Ururu’s cheeks reddened. “Or maybe that was just me… expecting a kiss. I probably made him feel uncomfortable.” She frowned. 

Kodama plopped a hand on Ururu’s left shoulder. “Look, Ururu, I may not know much about romance, but if you love Jinta, then YOU have to make the first move. Otherwise, he’s gonna make the move on Karin. Or someone will on him. Either way, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if you don’t.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just… I don’t think now is a good time.”

“Well, when you’re ready.” Kodama shrugged, not really caring about this dilemma. “Anyway, I think we did a good job on this here cracker! When it’s ready, it may just be strong enough to blow all these clouds away. Ururu, you had the honor of being inside of the first of my series of Weather Bombs!”

“I’m still heated from excitement.” Ururu said sheepishly. “I guess it wasn’t just all the Red Chu Jelly we added.”

“Spiciest jelly there is.” Kodama grinned. “Good for drying up these clouds. With that in mind, wanna go down and shop for balloons with me? I’m thinkin’ we can use those to make some pretty convincing Thunderworks.”

“That sounds fun. Um, and scary. Let me just change.” She began to take off her Tiny Devil.

“You know, since you can, you could become a fly on the wall and eavesdrop on Jinta, see who he likes.” Kodama winked.

“No thanks.” Ururu blushed, folding the suit up afterwards. “I don’t wanna accidentally watch him do… embarrassing boy stuff.”

“Yeah, you have a point. Besides, he probably never cleans it, you might get eaten by one of the jillions of bugs he has crawling around in there.”

“Hahaha.” Ururu laughed softly. The two girls walked to the living room to get their sandals and exit the treehouse.

“Plus, if Numbuh 4 is his role model, he probably doesn’t even find girls appealing.” Kodama remarked as they entered the living room. “’Course, boys typically tease girls they like, so you’ve already got-”

“YAAAAAAH!” Ururu screamed at the sight.

Jinta was wearing socks as he twirled in place on the table with one foot, while the other leg was bent up behind him. He wore a diaper, a top-hat with blue and red stripes, and held a makeshift bow-and-arrow ready while an apple sat in his mouth. He also wore a sash that said _Assimilate!_ “J-Jinta-kun, what are you doing?!”

“We’re playing Truth or Dare With Mostly Dare.” Karin smirked. “The first to wuss out loses.”

“Hokay, we don’t need to see anymore of this.” Kodama wrapped a hand around Ururu’s head and covered her eyes. “Come on, Ururu, let’s leave them to.” She tried to guide her friend out without looking.

**Karakura; behind party store**

Kodama inflated the last of 20 balloons they had paid for. She rubbed it with another balloon, held them above her head, and made her hair strands stretch and turn spiky. “This one, too! Yep, the ammunition for our Static Storm is A-okay!” She attached the balloons to her robe. Ururu’s pigtailed hair was also stretched, with some balloons stuck to her skirt.

“Shouldn’t we deflate these before the stickability wears off, or they pop?” the smaller girl asked.

“I wanna see how long these last. I’m thinking, aside from the Thunderworks, we could make a firework that statically binds people together. ’Course, we’d also need a few magnets. We’ll probably end up having to go shop for more balloons, anyway. Unless, Ururu, you can’t shrink other things with your suit, can you?”

“I use Minish Dust as a power source, and its antidote to grow back to normal. I get it from the Minish in the forest. I guess I could use some on the balloons.”

“That’d be swell, because then we could install a mechanism to rub them together and heighten their static ability.” Kodama held one balloon around her head and felt the static pull in its direction. “First, let’s go to the ice cream shop; at some point, I wanna make fireworks that can snow ice cream.”

The girls began their walk down the city, wearing balloons around their clothes. Adults passed weird looks to them, and kids walking by wanted to touch them. Ururu felt like shrinking away from all this attention, but Kodama’s bright smile implied that she saw nothing weird about this, and possibly liked the attention.

“Minish Dust, though,” Kodama thought aloud, “that gives me an idea for a firework that could shrink the whole city. Or at least just the citizens, but I bet we could pull it off. A Minicracker! Also, a firework that stores high soundwaves, and when it explodes, everyone in a 10-mile radius hears its screech. A Screamcracker! And have you heard of that illegal spice that makes people go crazy under flashy lights? I’ll use a Spicecracker to make it rain down over people, and a Flashcracker to let the madness start!”

“Kodama-chan, you’re… starting to scare me.” Ururu squeaked.

“I just can’t help it!” Kodama wore a mad smile as she grasped the air with her fingers. “The feeling when I’m constructing a dangerous explosive, knowing a single slip of my match could destroy everything within my zone! The power to target a single unsuspecting village and wipe it off the maps! And applying the power of elements and mental manipulation to my babies gives me all the more power!! (Hey, Sleepwalking Yuzu kind of had the right idea.)”

“Can’t we just save all the scary stuff for missions?”

“Yeah, we will.” Kodama said more calmly. “Sigh, but a girl can dream, though.”

The duo arrived at the candy store, which also sold the most delectable ice cream. After ordering four different flavors, they waited for the clerk to scoop it up. They heard the bell ding, meaning someone else entered the shop, but they didn’t care enough to turn around. While waiting, Ururu’s attention decided to wander around the shop… and she saw who was getting a heart-shaped box of chocolates. “J-Jinta-kun?”

The boy was walking to the counter when he heard her speak, stopping and looking up from the candy with surprise. “Oh, Ururu! I… didn’t expect to find you here.”

“M-Me neither… Um… Who’s the candy for? Karin-san?”

“N-No… it’s… for you.” Jinta blushed.

Ururu turned red. “M…Me?…”

“Yeah… I was going to ask you… on a date.”

Kodama’s eyes widened. Ururu became more red. “A… date?…”

“Yeah… do you wanna?”

“. . .” Ururu smiled, but her temperature kept increasing. “D-Do I… w-wanna!… Huhuhu-u-u-u-u-. . .”

“Snap out of it!” Kodama kicked her to him.

“R-Right. …Um… I would love to go out with you… Jinta-kun…”

“Oh… well, that’s great.”

“…Is there any place… you had in mind?”

“It’s meatball sandwich day up on Moonbase. I’ve tried those, they’re pretty good. Wanna go up?”

Kodama made a gagging gesture. “Meatball sandwiches?” Ururu’s whispery voice asked. “That sounds so… romantic!” Kodama stared at her in disbelief. “When do you wanna go?”

“Oh, I dunno… how ’bout right now?”

“S-Sure! Right now is great!”

“Great!” Jinta smiled. “So let’s go!”

After paying for their chocolate, Jinta took Ururu’s hand as they left the shop, with the girl joyfully skipping. “Um… why do you have balloons on you?”

“O-Oh!” Ururu blushed. “Just… helping Kodama.”

“Don’t you wanna stay and help?”

“N-No… she’s scary.”

**KND Moonbase**

Jinta ordered a large meatball sandwich for himself and a small one for Ururu. The boy was happily munching his sandwich, not caring about the ketchup dropping down his chin and shirt. Ururu merely held her sandwich and watched him. Her date acted oblivious to good manners, as if he didn’t care he was on a date. But then again, they were friends for years, so maybe Jinta thought his behavior wouldn’t bother her. Though, if Jinta wanted to ask her out, she thought he would act a little more nervous. Or maybe he was, he was just too cool to show it.

“Hey, yer burger’s drippin’.” Jinta said through chews. “You gonna eat or what?”

“Oh. R-Right.” She blushed. “Ahhh…” She only put the edge of the sandwich in her mouth and bit. Only the bread bit off.

“Ururu, take bigger bites or you’ll never finish it.” Jinta snickered. “What, is your mouth too tiny to fit a single meatball?”

“I usually eat small and soft foods.” she said. “I’m not used to bigger bites.”

“Then why did you want one?”

“Well, because… you were treating me, anyway, and… I didn’t wanna betray your kindness.”

“Well, if you don’t want it, then I’ll eat it.” Jinta finished his in one more bite. “Manly men like me need their meat.” Ururu allowed him to take hers and begin eating.

Ururu giggled and watched him do away with the smaller sandwich quickly. Despite his non-romantic nature, this was what she liked about Jinta, his confident and individualistic personality. It still made her wonder why he wanted to ask her out. What did he see in small and sensitive Ururu. Unless Jinta had a sensitive side that only Ururu would understand.

“So why did you decide to ask me out so suddenly, Jinta-kun?” she decided to ask.

“I…I dunno.” He looked like he was trying to think of a reason. “I guess I just wanted to see how this plays out.”

“Oh… I see.” Ururu replied. She kind of felt the same way, truthfully.

“I’m kind of surprised you agreed to it. How come?”

“Well, you asked.” Ururu smiled and, as usual, blushed. “And you were buying me chocolates. I didn’t want it all to be for nothing.”

“Okay.” He shrugged. “For a second, I thought it was because you liked me.”

“Hehe. You’re the one who asked me out. Someone usually doesn’t do that unless they like the other person.”

“And the other person wouldn’t agree to it unless they liked the first.” Jinta smirked.

“Hehehehehehe.” She giggled in her cute, whispery voice. The two stared at each other for a minute, Jinta’s playful smirk and Ururu’s sheepish smile. “…” Ururu flushed harder and looked at her empty food tray. “But secrecy aside, it’s pretty obvious what’s really goin’ on.”

“Oh… It is?” He stared at her questionably.

“Yeah. I mean, why else would we be here, right? Hahaha.”

“…Well, I’m glad it won’t be so awkward, then!” Jinta smiled coolly, folding hands behind his back.

“Hmhm, nope! Not at all!” _He’s trying to act cool, but of course he likes me! To think I was so worried this morning…_

“So, Jinta, since we’re already out, do you wanna do something else? See a movie, go to a park, or… something?”

“Hmmm…” Jinta raised a brow and tapped his chin. He grinned deviously. “You know something I always wanted to do?”

**Washington; behind the White House**

The White House was a lot bigger than it had been 20 years ago, and so was the yard around it. Jinta Hanakari was crouched behind a bush, snickering as he held a baseball ready. _“Jinta-kun, is this really a good idea?”_ Ururu’s squeaky voice came from his earpiece. The tiny girl was standing on the baseball.

“Why not? You’ve ridden my baseballs a few times, Ururu.”

_“No, what I mean is, this is the American President’s house. Wouldn’t this be considered an international crime?”_

“Hey, he’s the loser that marches into other countries and conquers the hell out of them. But if a president went crazy over little kids playing baseball in his yard, it’d be pretty funny!” He chuckled. “You just play your part and be the micro-size bullet.”

_“I’m still not sure…”_

“You said his office was on the 4th floor, right?” Jinta asked. Ururu nodded. “Great! Okay, hold on tight!” Jinta stood up eagerly and grabbed his large bat. Ururu clasped the baseball tight with the suit’s long fingers. “I’m going for the home run!” Jinta tossed the ball up, and Ururu’s screams rang in his earpiece when he hit the ball and sent them flying to the 4th floor window.

The ball smashed through and landed on the floor. Ururu shook back to her senses and viewed around the giant office. She flapped her suit’s bat wings and flew up to view the president’s desk. “He’s not here. That’s good.”

 _“Ah, lame.”_ Jinta said through the earpiece. _“Bu’ we can still leave him surprised. Tear it up, Ururu!”_

“Sigh…” Fast as a bullet, Ururu began ricocheting around the office, piercing and tearing up everything. She destroyed the phone on the desk, pelted the stapler multiple times to squirt out all the staples, tore up the picture of the president’s wife, the one of George Washington, then tore up the books on a desk. There was a poster of a one-eyed triangle being above the door: Ururu cut within the borders of the triangle’s body, causing it to fall out of the picture, and expose a code in the barren spot on the frame: _QDPH’V ELOO. VHH BRX ODWHU!_

“WHAT’S ALL THAT NOISE IN HERE?!” Ururu flinched when the president himself burst in. She flew down, grabbed Jinta’s baseball, and flew out. “What the-?!”

Jinta excitedly leapt and grabbed the ball while Ururu landed on his shoulder. “Nice goin’, Ururu! Heeheehee, he’d never suspect!”

“YOU DIRTY KIDS! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I’M EVICTING ALL YOUR FAMILIES!”

“PAAAAAH hah hah hah hah!” Jinta cackled as he kept running. “You know, Ururu, with that suit, you’re like the ultimate prankster!”

_“Jinta-kun, if it’s alright with you… do you think we can do something I wanna do?”_

“Alright. Whaddo you wanna do?”

**Karakura Park**

The sky was still cloudy from last night’s rain, and the ground still wet. There was sunlight poking through areas in the clouds. Jinta and Ururu sat on a bench and stared at the grass, with little droplets that were reflecting the sunlight. “I just love how grass looks after it rains. It makes it seem more alive and happy. You know?” Ururu spoke.

“Yeah, but the mud gets more squishy, and it sticks to your shoes, then your mom gets mad ’cause she has to clean ’em. You know, I heard Americans are allowed to wear shoes in the house. Heh, I bet they track mud all the time!”

“Hehe… Yeah, but look at the positive side of it. All the plants get fresh drinks of water and can live to provide more oxygen to we humans.”

“You’re starting to sound like that Nature Goddess freak.”

“Except I’m not trying to kill all humans. Hmm… Speaking of being positive, look at the puddles.” She pointed at a nearby puddle.

“Yeah, what about ’em?”

“It’s so reflective. It’s like a mirror. If our Negatives were peeping into the same puddle, we could cross worlds.”

“They probly are. Haven’t some of the sectors mentioned their Negatives appearing?”

“Yeah, but none of them have been doing any damage like Cheren’s Negative awhile ago. I wonder if our Negatives would have switched personalities?”

“Pfft, you’d meet your dream guy, then.” Jinta snickered.

“Mmmm…” Ururu smiled softly. “No. He would be the opposite.”

Jinta raised a brow at this comment. With that, Ururu rested her head along his chest, closing her eyes and releasing a calm sigh. “…Whaddoes that mean?” Jinta asked.

“Hmhmhm! You’re so silly, Jinta-kun.” She continued laying on his chest like a pillow, and Jinta simply let her, still confused. The chirping birds and the thumping of his heart was a lullaby, drawing her to sleep. Today felt like a dream… spending romantic time with the boy she loved. Any moment, she expected Jinta to lay his head on hers, embrace in the softness of her smooth black hair. Then they would share the same dream, where they were lying in a flower field, and-

 _Pooooot._ Ururu startled awake when Jinta released a fart. “Sorry.” Jinta said. “The meatballs are catching up. In fact, I’ve kinda been holding it in ’cause I didn’t wanna gross you out; but you don’t mind, do you?”

“N…No…” Ururu replied, sad that the wonderful moment was gone just like that.

“Good, ’cause I really need a bathroom. Or maybe I’ll just go in the bushes and blame it on a dog. Ah well, I’ll be right back.” Jinta got up and hurried off. Ururu sighed through her nose and lay down on the bench, arms folded under her head.

**Sector JP Treehouse**

The two friends were walking up the mountain path on their way back to the treehouse. “See, I told you our shoes would get muddy.” Jinta said.

“Hehehehe.” Ururu blushed for the buhmillionth time today. “In spite of the questionable parts, I really enjoyed this date, Jinta-kun.”

“Uhhh… yeah, me too.” Jinta said, looking confused as to why she used that word.

“Maybe we can do something else together later.”

“It’s not like we don’t do things together all the time.” He laughed.

“I mean just… you and me by ourselves. You’ve kinda been having so many contests with Karin-san lately, so I sort of thought…”

“Yeah, she just can’t get enough of me.” They entered the treehouse and walked up to the living room, slipping off their shoes. “Maybe this will finally end it.”

“End what?”

Karin was on the couch playing a game, Kodama was fixing a firework to shoot out the balcony, and Yuzu was cooking in the kitchen. Jinta walked up to his leader and told her, “Okay Karin, I went out with her, do I win now or what?”

“Huh? Oh, you’re back.” Karin looked up. “Sure took a while. Alright, sure, whatever.”

“J-Jinta-kun… What are you two talking about?” Ururu asked. Kodama looked over at them curiously.

“Hm? I’m talking about our Truth or Dare game. Karin dared me to ask you out and not tell you I was on a dare.”

Ururu felt her heart shatter like glass. She felt her breath stop for a second. “D…Dare?”

“Um… yeah.”

“…But… I thought you asked me out… because you liked me…”

“Uh… no, not really. I thought you knew, Ururu. When you said it was pretty obvious, I thought it meant you were on to our dare, like Karin told you in secret or something. …You mean you actually thought it was a for-real date? Hwell, this was pretty awkward.” He forced a laugh, smiling passively. “Eh, no hard feelings, right? It’s just goofing off like the usual activities.”

“. . . . .” Ururu’s purple-blue eyes were wide and still. She said nothing for several seconds. “I…I need to be alone.” Ururu walked to her room without turning back.

Kodama ran up to Jinta and kicked him in the shin. “AHHH!” He jumped on the other foot and gripped his knee. “What the hell, Kodama?!”

“You can be so dense sometimes, you know?? I’ve never seen Ururu more happy than the moment you asked her out. You don’t just grab a girl’s heart and throw it on the ground like a priceless vase!” She dashed off to the hallways.

“Okay, not that I’m like that, but why would a logical person throw a priceless vase on the ground?” Jinta asked.

“Because no vase has more price than a girl’s heart!!” Kodama shouted, then kept running.

Jinta, Yuzu, and Karin merely looked their direction with confusion. “Wow, Jinta. Way to get two girls to hate you with only a few simple words.” Karin remarked.

“Sigh, Ururu’s overreacting.” Jinta brushed off. “She’ll get over it in an hour or so.”

**Ururu’s room; one hour later**

Ururu lay on her bed with her hand beside her on the pillow, and her legs curled up. Her special, private room that she went to when she was so depressed. Of course, no one could tell the difference between this expression and how she usually looked. But the fact was, Ururu was sad, and she didn’t want to be bothered. Too bad Kodama saw where she went. “Ururu, you’ve been laying there for an hour. Get up or you’ll get a bedsore.”

“I don’t want to, Kodama-chan. Leave me alone.”

There was a gigantic black eye peeping into the dollhouse window. “Well, that bed can’t be very comfy in there.” Kodama said, crouched so as to look in and see her friend. “Isn’t it plastic or something?”

“I made it so no one would bother me in here. It’s nice and quiet.”

“But it’s on the floor. What if someone trips on it?”

“Kodama, is Ururu still in here?” Karin asked, walking in with Yuzu and Jinta.

Kodama sat up and responded, “She’s inside her dollhouse and she won’t come out.”

“You talk to her, Jinta.” Yuzu told him.

“Alright.” The red-haired boy walked over and knelt beside the dollhouse, while Kodama stood and backed away. Jinta picked up the house and shook it. “Ururu, quit acting like a baby and come outta there!”

“JINTA, stop that!” Kodama smacked him in the head. “She’s upset ’cause of you!”

“What? It’s not my fault she thought it was an actual date. I don’t even see what she’s upset about.”

“Jinta, the fact that Ururu agreed to your supposed ‘date’ means that she liked you. A lot. She was so happy that you asked her out, and you crushed that happiness when she learned it was just a dare.”

“How is that MY fault?! Karin’s the one who dared me, why don’t she talk to her.”

“Rule 35 of Truth or Dare:” Karin rose an informative finger. “The darer is not responsible for the consequences of the daree’s actions.”

“Jinta, you need to go in there and talk to her.” Yuzu said. “This is probably more than just a misunderstanding, and I think only you can make her feel better.”

“You’re right, Yuzu.” Jinta replied with an ‘Are you serious’ stare. “I’ll just pull the roof open and climb on in her tiny house.”

Kodama had begun looking in Ururu’s closet the moment he said that. “Aha! Here it is!” She grabbed a jar of green dust. “You can shrink with this!”

“Whoa whoa!” Jinta raised hands in protest. “I never agreed to-” Kodama dumped the dust over him without warning. His body glowed, and he decreased in size within seconds.

“Technically, ya did.”

“YAH!” Jinta fell on his rear when Karin stomped her foot beside him.

“Now get in there and cheer up Ururu. Or I’m gonna make your life miserable.”

“Okay, FINE! But for the record, this makes all three of you look fat!” Jinta marched into the dollhouse and slammed the plastic door.

“We’ll give you two some privacy!” Yuzu waved happily. After a moment, the three crouched down and put their ears close to the little house.

“Okay, Ururu, I’m here.” Jinta said after entering the room. “Just what’re you so upset about? I’m sorry you didn’t know it was a dare.”

_“Sure, Jinta, make HER seem at fault here.”_

“BUTT OFF, Karin!”

“Jinta-kun…” Ururu sat up and sat on her knees on the plastic bed. “Do you like me the same way I like you?”

“Sigh… Probly not.” He looked down guiltily.

“Do you like Karin?”

Jinta glanced at the window, seeing a familiar, narrowed gray eye. “I’m starting to not like her in general.”

“Jinta-kun, be serious!”

“No, I don’t like her! Ururu, why are you making a big deal out of this? It wouldn’t matter if I liked you or not, it’s not like we would get married! I mean, we’re kids, if we started going out, we’d get over each other in like a month.”

 _“You didn’t read the stories from 20 years ago, did you?”_ Yuzu echoed.

“Frankly, the romance scenes in those stories were the only parts I hated!” Jinta yelled angrily.

“Jinta, this isn’t just because you tricked me.” Ururu said with a tone Jinta assumed was angry. Also, her eyes were slanted in such a fashion. “But I’m wondering if you respect me at all. I wonder if I’m just a tease to you sometimes.”

“Come on, Ururu, I respect you. You’ve always been my best friend.”

“Not the same way you respect Karin, I bet.”

“Why is this suddenly about Karin?!”

“Because-! …” Ururu wasn’t sure how to answer that, either. “Sigh, I don’t know. I guess I just want you to admire me… in the same way you admire Wallabee Beatles, or Nigel Uno, or Ruby.”

“Ruby?”

“Maybe I just feel… unappreciated. You always fight with Karin or Ruby because they’re strong girls who give you a challenge, and I’m just the small and sensitive girl you like to pick on. The same girl you had to shield from bullies. Even after I made the Tiny Devil suit to show you I can be strong in my own way, you… don’t really pay as much attention to me as you do with Karin, Ruby, or any tough girl.”

“…Oh…” Jinta looked away, feeling a bit guilty. “Well, if you wanted to hang out more, why didn’t you ask?”

“…” Ururu looked away, “Because I didn’t wanna bother you.”

“…Ururu-” Jinta walked over.

_DOOOOO-DO-DOOOOO, DOOOO-DO-DOOOOOO!_

“AAAAAAAHHHH!” Jinta and Ururu clamped their ears shut. “WHAT IS THAT?!”

“KODAMA!” Karin shouted, smacking the harmonica out of the girl’s hands. “What the heck are you doing?!”

“Just wanted to help the mood with some emotional music.” She blushed.

Jinta huffed with annoyance, stomping over to sit beside his friend. “Ururu, I’m sorry for tricking you before. And I’m sorry if I don’t pay enough attention to you. But… I honestly feel more comfortable around you than anyone else. I feel like you’re the only person that understands me. I always thought you were more used to my… boyish habits, so that you didn’t mind them.”

“Well…” She looked up at him, “I guess I am. I didn’t even mind that you did those things during our ‘date.’ You’re just being you, Jinta.”

“Yeah, I know!” Jinta smiled. “If anything, I think of you… like a little sister.”

“Oh. A sister, huh?” She frowned again.

“…That’s not the answer you wanted to hear, huh?”

“No. I mean, I like to be someone you can be yourself around… but I still wanna be someone you admire like an equal.”

“Well… How do you want me to do that?”

“I don’t know… Can you tell me anything that you like about me?”

“Well, you’re… pretty. I’m sure a lot of other boys would fall for you.”

“I guess.” Ururu blushed. “But I don’t want them to like me just for that.”

“You’re also really smart. You made me a cool baseball bat,” Jinta smirked, “and you made a shrink suit that totally kicks butt! Heh heh heh, I always love it when you’re tiny and beating up bad guys! They’re like, ‘Ow, ah, what the heck happened?’ getting their butts kicked by a tiny fly! Plus, you’re like the ultimate prankster in that suit!”

“Hm hm hm hm!” Ururu smiled. “Yes, I am a little proud of it. A shrink suit does help a lot. …You wanna know why I built the Tiny Devil?”

“Yeah?”

Ururu faced down and tapped the tips of her fingers together. “The truth is… sometimes I just want to hide and be alone. Whenever I get really embarrassed or upset… I’d like to be able to shrink down and let it blow over me. If I could just shrink and hide in a hole, no one could laugh at me, I wouldn’t get in anyone’s way, and no one would feel burdened by me.”

Jinta looked around the room they were in. The room in the dollhouse Ururu shrunk herself to hide in. “I know how you feel… When Karin beat me in that tournament, I would’ve liked to shrink down and hide from all those laughing girls.” He blushed. “I think everyone feels that way every now and then. But if you were small, no one would be able to find you and comfort you. Your friends would wanna hold you and… make you feel big. I would like to hold you…”

Ururu blushed again and looked at him. “I would like to hold you, too. I never felt very big when I was around you, because you’re so brave and strong. But we really do have something in common, Jinta-kun. We’re both pretty small.”

“HA HA HA ha ha ha ha ha!” Jinta hugged his chest and swung his legs. Karin, Yuzu, and Kodama heard the pun and smiled at their lighthearted moment.

“WAHAAA!” The door to Ururu’s room (the normal one) burst open, and the other three JP members whipped around to see their intruder. “Kids Next Door Sector JP, tremble before THREEZORE!” He was a three-headed Nighlok demon. “By order of Lord Hannibal Bean, I am here to take back the Yin Yo-yo, and destroy you in trying!”

Karin, Yuzu, and Kodama towered over the six-inch Nighlok, staring at him confusedly. “Duh, what are they staring at?” the dumb head asked. “Is there something on my face?”

“Well, there better be something on your face.” The funny head proclaimed. “Otherwise, there’d be NOTHING! Huh??”

“What the heck is that thing?” Karin asked.

“Oh, my! It’s the weirdest toy I’ve ever seen!” Yuzu bent down and happily picked the monster up. “But it’s soooo cute!” She hugged it.

“NOOO! We are not cute!” the smart head yelled. “We are a terrific Nighlok warrior who once served King Malladus! We were in charge of guarding this very treehouse 20 years ago!”

“But Sector JP didn’t have a treehouse 20 years ago.” Yuzu said with a quizzical expression.

“They probably just tricked you here because you were useless.” Kodama said with a witty smirk.

“Tricked us?! For your information, we proved a very deadly force for the old JP!”

“Yeah, right.” Karin remarked. “What, did they take you out with a broom?”

“No! Because we did THIS!” Threezore shot his two suction tentacles to Yuzu’s and Kodama’s heads. They both wore blank expressions as he appeared to be sucking lumps of something through his arms, and Yuzu released him to the floor. The tentacles detached as the two girls moaned.

“Who am I…” Yuzu asked groggily. “Why do my words sound like gibberish?”

“Why is this knot around my head?” Kodama asked, tugging her large red rope-knot. “Is my hair sewed onto my body?’

“Your memories are like tasty orange juice to me!” Threezore exclaimed. “My health is your poison! AAHH!” The Nighlok was stomped under Karin’s foot.

“I’m glad you like juice, ’cause that’s all you’ll become when I squish your body flat.”

“Oh, yummy!” the dumb head said. “I wonder if we’ll taste like grapefruit- uuuoooohh!” Karin applied more pressure.

“For your information, we DO like juice! Brain juice helps us grow big and STRONG!” Threezore increased in size, and was able to push Karin off of him. He hopped to his feet and shot a tentacle at the Sector Leader, sucking her brain. “Ha ha HAAAA!” Threezore grew to their size. “With our superior size, we will squashify this entire treehouse for the Yin Yo-yo!”

“Oh, crap!” Jinta exclaimed. “What’re we gonna do like THIS, Ururu?”

“Maybe you can’t do much,” Jinta turned and saw she was fixing on her Tiny Devil, her expression serious, “but this is what I’m trained for.”

Ururu flew out of the dollhouse, pushed her left wrist button, and puffed to normal size. “So, Snoozezore. You think you’re so great because you’re big and tough, huh?”

“DUUUUH! It’s a giant bat!” the dumb head yelled.

“I would call you Batman, if you weren’t a girl!” the funny head joked. “Get it?”

“Oh, lay off it, you two!” the leader head ordered. “And yes, we DO like being big! Why wouldn’t we wanna be big? Being big means we’re STRONG!”

“Guess again.” Ururu pushed the right wrist and shrunk in an instant. Threezore launched his tentacles, but the Tiny Devil swiftly dodged, then pierced their three necks like a bullet. She zipped back and forth, puncturing holes everywhere in their body. Threezore began to electrify.

“Look, guys! We’re electricking!” the dumb head said. “Does this mean we’ll blast off like a rocket?”

“I’ve heard of short gigs, but this one was literally tiny!” joke head joked.

“I wish they paid more for our BUUUUDGEEEEEET!” And with that, Threezore exploded. The energy from Karin, Kodama, and Yuzu’s memories flowed back into their bodies.

“Whoa, what just happened?” Karin shook.

“I feel the need to make lame puns and provide mediocre acting!” Yuzu exclaimed.

Ururu puffed back to normal. “You had your brains sucked up by that weird-looking monster. It was no trouble, really.”

“YEAH!” Jinta cheered from the dollhouse. “That was awesome! He was all, su-lurp, and then you went, PEW, PEW, PEW PEW! I wish you guys had the brainpower to appreciate such an awesome battle!”

“Awe, Jinta-kun.” Ururu bent down and smiled blushingly at him. “I’m unworthy of your praise.”

“Yeah, but you’re gettin’ there. And I’d praise you even more if you biggify me.”

“Hmmm… but you’re kind of cute this way, Jinta. I think I wanna play with you.”

“Ha ha, Ururu, just hit me with a grow ray or something.”

“Dude, you know we aren’t gonna pass this up.” Kodama smirked. “We’re girls and you’re a boy. You should have expected this. I’ll go get the makeup!”

“I’ll get the baby food!” Yuzu ran off.

“I’ll get the camera.” Karin was off, too.

“AAAAAUUUGH! You all tricked me into this!!” Jinta screamed.

“Revenge is a dish best served small.” Ururu winked. “You’ve gotta respect me for that.”

“Come on, Ururu! Pleeeeeaaaaase?”

“Hmhmhmhmhmhmhm!” Ururu would enjoy her time as the bigger, stronger person.

 

**A little foreshadowing for _Seven Lights_. (If you read that story before this, you know what I mean. ;P) Threezore was :iconYougotburned:’s OC Nighlok that had a cameo in _Firstborn_. Next time, Kodama’s chapter.**


	5. The Star Kodama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kodama learns of a powerful firework locked away on Moonbase! But Cheren forbids her from taking it...

**Here it is, the penultimate chapter!**

****

**_

Chapter 5: The Star Kodama

_**

_Shooting stars are beautiful. They say that if you wish on a shooting star, it comes true._

_In actuality, shooting stars are meteors that are hurdling through the atmosphere at breakneck speed, disintegrating as they burn entering our planet. But if a meteor manages to pass through our atmosphere, the entire planet would explode in a fiery blaze. A billion years ago, the Earth was struck by such a meteor, and an entire species of dinosaurs died. Then the Earth turned into ice and became the subject of a movie with a lot of sequels._

_Now what if I told you the story of a girl who was inspired by this cataclysm? She was a great pyrotechnician who traveled the world, looking for all sorts of materials to make her creations. Chaos and destruction happened everywhere she went. People gazed awestruck at the colorful explosions in the sky. The hypnotic booms and b’aws. But that was their downfall. One town’s citizens began to see everything as a candy land, so they tried to eat everything. One town’s citizens all suddenly shrunk to the size of beetles in a few seconds. And for a whole month, the citizens of a town could only taste hotdogs._

_Why did these things happen? Well, they were all materials dropped from that girl’s fireworks. Her shells became renowned as a powerful force. Where her colorful rockets flew, their targets reduced to dust. She blew up skyscrapers. She blew up mountains. And one day… she blew up the moon._

The sky was clear of clouds over Karakura Forest, and the night sky sparkled with stars. Shooting stars whooshed over the heavens. The glow of their white strips shone off Kodama’s dark, lively eyes. “Well, if that isn’t a good bedtime story on the night of a meteor shower.” Karin remarked. The Sector JP friends were watching the stars fall from the mountain path to their treehouse.

“Kodama-chan, can’t we just enjoy the shooting stars?” Ururu asked, sitting with her legs arched up and her arms wrapped around them. Jinta lay beside her, his head resting on his hands. “Let’s make wishes to them, just like you said. Like…” She folded her hands in prayer and closed her eyes, “I wish for a beautiful new year.”

“Yeah? Well, I wish for something totally random and exciting to happen next year.” Jinta smirked.

“Oh, you guys are a bunch of small-dreamers.” Kodama brushed off. “But I can’t just stand here and watch stars fall from the sky. Rather,” she smirked and pulled a bazooka out from under her robe, “I’m more about _literally_ shooting for the stars. Rather, I want to MAKE the stars myself! The power I can wield with my own two hands should be feared across galaxies! Behold, a single tiny shell.” She held a hand-size aerial shell in her right hand, tossing it up and down. “I crafted this item, and wherever I decide to fire, it will destroy.” She chucked it in her bazooka. “Now, with but a single pull of my trigger,” she aimed the gun at the forest and made the gesture of clicking the switch, “a whole land can be reduced to ash. I hold the power of destruction in the palms of my hands.”

With a serious look, Kodama aimed the gun up and locked on to the stars. “Now, watch as I shoot down one of your precious stars!” And so, with a single click of the trigger, the mortar went flying like one of the comets. It only went so far up the sky before it burst into colorful green.

“Our precious stars are still standing.” Yuzu sweatdropped. “Er, metaphorically.”

“Mmmmm!” Kodama grumbled. “Well, just wait, one day I’ll create fireworks that can blow up comets AND moons! I know I can do it.” She turned around and stared up at the shooting stars. “Ever since I was little, the thing I loved the most were explosions. I watch any and every movie that has explosions. I study the shape and texture of the expanding smoke. Like when Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star, or when they blew up the second half-assed Death Star. My favorite items in _Zelda_ are bombs and my favorite piece of classic 2x4 technology is M.A.R.B.L.E.s. With fireworks, I can add art to explosions. Fireworks capture the true beauty of blowing things up. My parents were my heroes. They were the top fireworks experts. Day after day, they experimented with new materials, creating more art and perfecting their work. In the end, they-”

“Blew their selves up while experimenting with a giant shell.” Karin casually interrupted.

“Karin!” Yuzu yelled reprovingly. “Don’t just say that, show a little compassion!”

“I just don’t get why she’s so obsessed about this thing when her own parents died from it. Like, it’s typically the kind of thing that would traumatize a kid, so…” Karin noticed the sad expression on Yuzu’s face. She stopped midsentence and gave her own remorseful look.

“For your information, my parents died doing what they love!” Kodama yelled passionately. “I know that they want me to carry on their legacy, not sit around and cry for them! That’s why they gave birth to me in China, the motherland of fireworks, even though we were Japanese. My young eyes absorbed the color of their explosions, and to this day, they’re all I can think about.”

“I’m surprised you never needed glasses.” Jinta remarked.

“Sigh.” Kodama sighed, sitting on the ground. “It’s a shame no one else in KND shares the same appreciation for artistic explosions. The most they make are little marbles that pop mustard.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t say that.” Karin said. “Apparently, they got a pretty nifty bomb on Moonbase.”

“They do?”

“Yeah, Cheren mentioned it during that war meeting. He considered using it to bomb Viridi, but figured it was too dangerous.”

“Interesting. What did he call it?”

“The Shell Two-Sixty-Seven or… something. What, you aren’t thinking of going up there and asking for it, are you?”

“Hn hno, of course not!” Kodama chuckled and grinned. “Well, I’ll see you guys later, I have to go someplace else for an… unrelated matter.” She got up and ran up the hill to the treehouse.

The friends continued watching the stars in peace as a ship launched out of their treehouse, blending in with the meteors as it soared beyond the sky. “He’s gonna say ‘no.’” Karin said simply.

**Moonbase**

“Whaddyou mean ‘no’?” Kodama asked sadly.

“I mean ‘no’, you cannot take the Shell 297 (not the 267 as you were misled) for any reason.” Cheren told her. “It’s a dangerous explosive that we risk even keeping it in the Moonbase. What do you want with it, anyway?”

“I just wanna study its craft and composition and… possibly make a dozen copies based on what I learned. Come on, Cheren, I’m my sector’s pyrotechnician, I have to see it! What’s the point of making the stupid thing if you aren’t gonna use it?”

“We never made it to begin with. It was taken from a secret stash belonging to supervillains, and we couldn’t leave it in there in case someone else might’ve used it.”

“‘Someone else’? Why are you saying it like that?”

“It-…” Cheren bit his teeth as though trying to think. “It’s none of your business! My answer is final. Understand, Numbuh Chinese?”

“It’s ‘Chinese New Year.’” She corrected in disbelief.

“KODAMA!!” he outbursted. “See, this is why I don’t like referring people by numbuh! You either have complicated numbuhs or you just rip off your parents’ numbuhs. (I guess I’m no different, so sue me.)”

“Alright then.” Kodama shrugged. “I understand the gist. Here’s my phone number.” She handed him a paper. “Numbers are the same in Japanese.”

“W…Why?” Cheren was confused.

“You only do favors for girls who date you, right? That’s why you let Lin in the tournament? And why you shut down Sector GD for April?”

“WHAT?! No, that’s not it at all!! Ugh, just go back home, and don’t ask about that shell again!”

“Fine.” She made a pouty face and walked out. “Grumpy.”

Cheren sighed with aggravation, unable to get over that assumption. His computer made a _bling_ as an email appeared. He saw a picture of Grenda, the muscular girl from Sector GF, grinning. Her message was titled _Hey, cutie!_ Cheren deleted the message, turned off his computer, and hid under his desk, shuddering with fear.

**Sector JP; Kodama’s room**

Kodama got in her pajamas, where she kept her light-brown shorts and wore a same-colored button-up shirt, and jumped in bed. She looked around at the many explosives in her room. An accidental light of a match could set them all ablaze. The high-pitched whirs as they whoosh across the air, followed by a great _POP!_ , would be the last sounds she ever heard. She fell to sleep peacefully with this in her mind.

**The next day (as usual)**

Kodama watched the Death Star explode on _Star Wars_. She watched the scene from _Sonic X_ when Prison Island blew up. She watched a channel for Amish Races, where Amish people raced on horse-drawn carts: one racer’s cart was shoved over a cliff. The wooden carriage exploded, then the horse exploded. She watched Shan-Yu’s death on _Mulan_. And many more explosions from different shows.

“Kodama, they say that flashing TV screens hurt your eyes.” Yuzu said, sitting on the couch and watching with her friend as they ate ramen. Kodama was more engaged with the TV. “Besides, you know that TV explosions don’t compare to the beauty of real-life… explosions.”

“I know that.” Kodama looked serious. “They just… help me think.” She touched her red forehead knot.

“Whatchu thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about how I can break into Moonbase’s top secret storage and steal that Shell 297.”

“PBBBLTH!” Yuzu spit out a stream of ramen, which oozed down her green sweater with saliva. She went to chuck those noodles in the trash and came back with no sweater and a wet towel to clean the floor. “Okay, Kodama, you got me there.” Yuzu smiled passively, making a sweatdrop. “Just don’t let Karin-chan hear you say that, you know what she did to Jinta-kun.”

“I’m not planning to tell her, of course. Not yet, at least. But if you would like to help me, Yuzu…”

“Heheheh. No thanks, I’m not sure I’m understanding this joke very well.” Yuzu said quickly, while at the same time stifling nervous giggles.

“There’s gotta be some way.” Kodama grasped her hair. “Like…” She heard the sound of sweeping, and saw that Ururu had come in, sweeping the floor a few feet away. “Ururu!”

“Huh?” The pigtailed girl turned around at her.

Kodama hopped over the couch and gave a grin and thumbs-up. “How would you like to sneak into Moonbase and swipe a dangerous explosive, Tiny Devil!”

“W-What? No, of course not!” Ururu blushed and shook her hand in defiance. “I would never use my suit to steal from people! Unless they’re bad guys…”

“Ururuuuuu! What’s the point of having shrinking powers if you don’t put them to practical use?”

“Shrinking Jinta for fun is one thing, but stealing from Moonbase is… illegal. I don’t know what I would do if I got branded a criminal. I would be scarred for life… sniff, sniff.” Ururu began crying.

“Okay, okay. We won’t make you steal it. …” Kodama turned back to Yuzu with a devious smirk, “But I do know someone who would…”

“Kodama, this joke’s getting old.” Yuzu said reprovingly, hands on her hips. “Don’t you have anything new?”

“Actually, I’ve been working on a new type of firework! Take a looksee!” Kodama presented a very small, pink missile with a purple point, which fit between her thumb and index.

“Oooooo! It’s so small!” Yuzu looked closer, lightly touching its tip. “Whaddoes it do?”

“I filled it with Sleeping Powder. Light impact, light explosion, all ensured to put one’s eyes into deep slumber. Behold!” Kodama aimed the mini projectile at Yuzu’s face and plucked the fuse. The base end suddenly lit, flew forward, and _popped_ against Yuzu’s nasal bridge. Pink powder puffed in the poof, sprinkling on Yuzu’s brown eyes. The girl became drowsy, she fell back over the couch, and her feet were propped up in the air as she snored.

Kodama held up three fingers and mentally counted. _3… 2… 1…_

“SHYAH!” Yuzu jumped back to her feet in a karate pose; her brown eyes were shadier. “What up chick and other chick??”

“Hi, Sleep Yuzu!” Kodama waved brightly. “Do you wanna help me rob a top-secret facility?”

“Uh… SHYAAAAAAHH??” Yuzu replied with an expression that read, ‘Duh, OBVIOUSLY!’

“Great! I knew I could count on you!” she winked and thumbs-upped.

“K-Kodama-chan,” Ururu stuttered, “you’re not serious, are you?”

“Look!” Kodama pulled out another mini missile. “Another Slumberwork!” She lit the little fuse and flew it at Ururu.

“Aaaaah!” the girl panicked. “Uh, oh, yeek!” Ururu looked both ways frightfully, wondering what to do, but stood in place so the tiny missile could strike her face. Ururu’s big pretty eyes got heavy, then she fell back on the floor, letting her broom drop as well.

“But just the two of us might not be enough.” Kodama thought aloud, stroking her chin. “The top secret weapons facility might be computer-protected. Now, who do we know is good at computer stuff… …” She tapped her chin for a moment. Then, Kodama beamed as she proclaimed, “I got it!”

**Moonbase**

Kodama landed her S.C.A.M.P.E.R. in the Moonbase Hangar, but her little trio didn’t step out for a while. They were made up of Kodama herself, Yuzu still in Sleepwalker Mode, and their choice computer expert. “Thanks for agreeing to this, Vanellope.” Kodama said.

“My pleasure.” The candy girl replied coolly. “I always wanted to take part in robbery. Gonna have to come up with some story for Dillon, though.”

“We’re not actually stealing anything, though.” Kodama smiled sheepishly. “I just wanna get in to the secret weapons storage and look at this Shell 297. First, Vanellope, can you get inside the base’s camera network and look for the storage? Also, do you think you can reprogram the camera monitors to keep replaying the same recordings? That way, we can go in there without the camera guys getting suspicious.”

“Pfft. A job like that is child’s play for me.” Vanellope smirked proudly. She set her laptop on the floor, logged in to Moonbase’s Wi-Fi, and digitized herself inside.

Vanellope found her way to the camera network and looked at its hundreds of screens. She skimmed around each screen until one of them depicted a huge door labeled _WEAPONS STORAGE_ in white letters. “It’s on the first floor! Hallway 53! Now to just finagle around with the images… Aha! Camera boys are watchin’ reruns!”

Vanellope rematerialized back in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. “I found the Weapons Storage, but you need a Card Key. I looked around some more, and it looks like Francis has it. The room’s also chi-blocked, and there’s a guard by it. There’s somethin’ else you should know, too: I saw a picture of you that said, ‘Watch out for this girl.’”

“Is that because of my talk with Cheren last night?” Kodama questioned. “Why is he so worried about me? Well, whatever, I’ll figure out sooner or later. Yuzu, you steal the outfit from one of these hangar guards. You’ll pose as a guard and switch shifts with the one guarding the storage. I’ll knock him out for you.”

“Why can’t I do it myself?” Yuzu fist-palmed.

“I wanna keep things quiet as possible.” Kodama sweatdropped.

They saw a hangar guard walking by, so they opened the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.’s hatch as Kodama shot a Slumberwork, knocking him out. They pulled the guard in the ship as Yuzu donned his red uniform and large black helmet that didn’t fit her small head. Equipped with the ray gun that came with the uniform, Yuzu marched up to the main bridge where Francis Drilovsky was pacing casually. To swipe from him, Yuzu would first have to march up in an even more casual fashion. ’Cause when you’re pulling off a burglary, casually is key. So when Francis was facing the other way, Yuzu fast-walked up to him, then he turned around and collided with her.

“WAAH!” They both fell with Francis on top of Yuzu. Several nearby operatives looked in their direction, and as they were squirming, Yuzu was searching around his pants.

“Whoa whoa, wh-whoa whoa!” Yuzu shouted. “You tryin’ to start something here, or what you think you’re doin’?!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Francis flushed. “It was an accident, l-let me just-”

“AHH!!” Yuzu freaked when Francis pressed a part of her chest, so she punched the boy in the jaw and knocked him off before jumping to her feet. “You do NOT just go up to a girl and DO that to them! You either better watch where you’re goin’, or DON’T act like such a wannabe CREEP!” With mock fury in her veins, Yuzu stomped away. “UGH!”

“. . . .” All of the operatives were staring reprovingly at Francis. He looked around at all of them, sweating nervously. He pulled his sweater over his head and walked away quickly.

Yuzu smirked to herself, glancing back as she held the Card Key between her fingers. With that, she followed the first floor passage that led to the Weapons Storage. There was a guard standing before the large sealed gate, so Yuzu approached him. “Yo Mac, your shift’s up, I’m takin’ charge.”

“Whuh?” the boy asked. “My shift isn’t up for another half-hour… and you aren’t even the guy who’s up next.”

“That guy called in sick, so they called me.”

“Alright, then where’s your ID?”

“It was sorta last minute, so I left in on my toilet.”

“Right, that’s where I leave my helmet.” The guard remarked sarcastically. “This is a little fishy, I’ma need some clarification.”

“Listen, buddy, I was sittin’ at home playing videogames when they called, and that was like RIGHT AFTER my hangar duty, I was all set to relax for the day when it happened, so EXCUSE ME if I forgot a little personal ID! I coulda just not shown up and let YOU stand here even longer, so if you got a problem, Ah’ll be happy to fly back home and goof around in my underwear!”

“Alright, alright! I’m good with my paycheck for the day, so shift’s all yours.” The guard complied before beginning to leave. “It’s not like you could get in without the key or password, anyway.”

After a while, Kodama caught up and got inside the room, and Vanellope materialized out of the computer she was carrying. “So how’d you get over here?” Yuzu asked.

“I set off a small shell that puts a Mirage Mist over me.” Kodama explained. “It made me invisible to everyone for a few minutes, so I rushed over. You still got the card?”

“Yeah, but ’e said there was a password.”

“I can handle that part, just put the card in.” Vanellope said.

Yuzu swiped the card through the slot on the terminal. When a password was requested, Vanellope quickly hacked in with her computer. She hit the password ‘No Peeking’, and a green check mark appeared.

They stood and watched as the large black gate rose open. The three girls walked into the dark, dust-filled room, viewing weapons that were taken and went unused for years. There was Father’s piano he used to turn everyone into animals. There was the Amalgamator the Delightful Children used to make the Amalgamation. There were soda bottles that Mr. Fizz used to stuff kids inside; they guessed those bottles were here because KND scientists attempted to study how that was physically possible, but never came up with an answer. Some Girlifyer ray guns were hanging on the wall, too.

“Ahh!” Kodama beamed. “There it is! The Shell 297!” She recognized the large, roundish device with a fuse on top. She skipped over the fallen weapons before planting both feet on the ground before the huge bomb. ‘297’ was written on it. It was colored a night blue, with yellow stars painted. Yuzu and Vanellope stared awestruck at the pretty shell. Kodama walked around it, studying every part of it. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the beautifully crafted explosive. She was afraid to touch it and ruin the paint… but couldn’t resist, and she went up to rub it with her hands.

“So beautiful… it must’ve taken ages for someone to make it. Oh, but I have to know _who!_ Who _made_ this beautiful piece of art? And with _what?_ When it explodes, what marvelous wonders will we see? Oh, I can’t believe they would just chuck it in here. Why would…?” She was brushing dust off as her hands moved around it, and when she removed the dust of one area, she noticed faint black lines on the blue paint. “Huh? Vanellope, shine your computer on this.”

Vanellope faced the brightness of her laptop onto the shell. The thin black lines were actually writing. Kodama squinted her eyes and looked closer. “Daodama and Sudama -…” She paused before reading the surname. Her dark eyes widened. “I… _Impossible_ …”

“What’s wrong?” Vanellope asked.

“My…My _parents_ …” Kodama spoke in a whisper. “This shell was made… by my parents…” Her eyes trembled as she reached up and touched the pretty bomb. “Mommy… Daddy… Were you going to launch this… but never got the chance? But why…why is it up here? In the Moonbase?”

“Ain’t all this stuff stuff that belonged to villains?” Yuzu questioned. “Or do ya think…”

“Kodama’s parents were bad guys?” Vanellope followed.

Kodama said nothing, only stared at the Shell 297, lightly brushing her hand along its dust. “…I have to launch it.”

“Huh?” Yuzu said.

“This was probably the last shell my parents ever made. They were going to launch it, but never could. I don’t know why it would be up here… but I need to get it out of here. I need to set it off in Karakura’s night sky and show everyone the fruit of my parents’ art. No, the tastiest fruit they ever grew. I need to, so my parents can rest in peace.”

“The fact that we’re talking about making an explosion happen makes that the most beautiful thing I ever heard.” Yuzu sniffled, wiping a tear from her shady night eyes.

“Okay, but how’re we gonna carry this bad boy outta here with no one seeing?” Vanellope asked.

“The very reason I packed this.” Kodama raised a jar of Minish Dust. “Swiped it from Ururu’s room because I _knew_ I would want to take it, anyway. I hate to disrespect such a beautiful work of art like this, but it’s all for the best.”

Suddenly, bright flashlights were shone on them. “HANDS UP IN THE AIR and step AWAY from the BOMB!” the Irish accent that belonged to Panini screeched. The girls turned around, hands in the air as a bunch of guards locked their guns on them.

“I ran into the guy who was supposed to take my shift by the candy vendor.” The one guard said.

“THIS is why Ay told you to keep a copy of SHIFT schedules!” Panini yelled at him. “It feels like boys have gotten DUMBER since that whole thing. Alright, all three of ya get yer butts out of here before one of these nitwits slips their trigger and shoots that bomb, anyway.”

**Leader’s Office**

The three girls were seated in Cheren’s office as the aggravated leader read over a list. “Hacking our database, messing up our cameras, assaulting and impersonating a guard, ‘violating’ Francis, and attempting to steal from our top secret Weapons Facility?! I don’t think I’ve seen treachery from our own trusted operatives since…!” He looked at another list of similar incidents. The latest one read _Dillon York – XANA Incident_. “Er…” Cheren glanced up at Vanellope, then the list, then Vanel. Recalling those events, he wondered if he would offend Vanel by finishing the sentence. “…The old leader! Yuzu, after looking over your profile, I expected better from you. And Vanellope, we trusted you _wouldn’t_ use your powers that way.”

“Okay, I’m sorry!” Vanellope said with a guilty look in her adorable big eyes. “It just sounded fun, and she didn’t say we were doing anything bad…”

“Man, I do’s what I wants, and I’d post mah underwear pics on my profile if I knew what it was.” Yuzu said snarkily, blowing some gum before it popped.

“What’s with you and underwear?” Vanel replied.

“And Kodama, I thought I made myself clear.” Cheren stated. “I didn’t want you poking around about the Shell 297.”

“NO, you DIDN’T make yourself clear!” Kodama shouted angrily. “I saw my parents’ names on the shell! I wanna know why it’s here! Did you steal from my parents after they died? Did the KND have anything to do with their deaths?!”

“! . . . .” Cheren bit his lower lip. “Sigh, alright. The two of you can go, but I’ll be writing to your treehouses and taking points from your sectors. Kodama stays.” With that, Vanel and Yuzu stood up and walked out.

Cheren opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a file, plopping it down before Kodama. “Kodama, the truth is, your parents used to be supervillains a few years back.”

“What?!”

“Yes. They called their selves the Party Poppers. They looked for kids having birthday parties and tried to ruin them by exploding dangerous fireworks over everything. Their actions resulted in hair getting burned off and several thousands worth in property damage. Naturally, the KND had to cover them with our own special means. One day, they tried to destroy the Arctic Base with a storm of powerful bombshells. Their last resort was a bomb reported to be the Ball 205. But one of our spies, Nya LaMar, boarded their ship and set the bomb to explode beforehand. That’s when they died. We heard they had a 5-year-old daughter, so we sent you a fake obituary. This was five years ago, but you… probly knew that.

“A group of operatives back then found your parents’ secret lair and raided it. The Shell 297 was found among hundreds of smaller bombs. By now, we’ve used all those bombs in regular battles, but we kept the 297 up here because we deemed it too dangerous. You should also know that, when you were admitted to training, a report of concern was made regarding your parentage. But as it isn’t uncommon for operatives to be related to villains, this report was passed off. Plus, they sort of thought of your admittance to training as… an apology gift. Well… that’s about it.” Cheren looked sympathetically.

“…I…I don’t believe it.” Kodama looked down, eyes showing regret.

“I’m sorry we kept this from you.”

“…The Party Poppers… That…” Kodama grasped her hair and cried, “THAT’S THE DUMBEST NAME EVER!!”

The pity Cheren felt was replaced with disbelief. “Uhhh… That isn’t our fault. Anyway, I told you the truth, so… you don’t need to stay.”

“Cheren, I have to take that shell!” she yelled determinedly. “I need to launch it.”

“What? ! No, absolutely not! We still don’t know what kind of effect it has or its material and it’s too risky to blow it up anywhere!”

“Cheren, I don’t care if my parents used their talent for the wrong reason. They had a vision and they brought it to life. If you ever heard the expression that ‘True art is an explosion’, then that’s what it means. I’m going to finish what they started and fire that baby into the night sky! …Er, but not the whole ‘blowing up Arctic Base’ thing, I won’t finish that.”

“The answer is ‘no’, Kodama.”

Flustered, the Japanese girl smacked her hands on the desk and stood up, glaring at him. “What do you have against true art to deny it this way?!”

Cheren smacked the desk and stood, getting in her face with a similar glare. “Because, true art or no, explosions are still dangerous, and they aren’t worth risking lives over!”

“NNNNGH!” Kodama swung her foot under the desk.

“AAH!” She kicked Cheren in the shin, so he jumped on one foot. With that, Kodama bolted out of the room and ran across the bridge, looked at by several confused operatives.

**Karakura Forest**

After dropping Vanellope back at Sector V and returning to their own treehouse, Kodama left the base and marched up a different mountain path. This path took Kodama to her grandfather’s house where she now lived, aside from the treehouse. It was a shabby white building that had a large chimney. It was called the Fireworks Factory.

Her grandfather, Odama was creating a shell that had a wind-up key, twisting said key three times. Odama was an old man with a wrinkly, grumpy face, grey hair, and wore a blue robe and clothes similar to Kodama, but more kabuki eyeliner. He let the ball shake around in his hand before throwing it a few feet away. The ball conked out and fell dead. “Darn. Still isn’t right.” he spoke in a gruff voice. Odama glanced to his right. “Oh, there you are, Kodama. You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with your friends.”

“Hi, Grandpa. Sorry, we’ve just been going through a lot of stuff. It’s a little unconventional for each of us to be experiencing a certain dilemma one after the other.”

“Whaddyou mean by that?”

Kodama marched up and looked at him seriously. “Grandpa, were you a supervillain, too?”

He raised a brow, but his eyes remained narrow. “You found out about your parents?” She nodded. “Mmmm…” Odama closed his eyes and smoked from his pipe. “No, I wasn’t a villain. Your parents just took up the profession because our fireworks weren’t selling very well. They ended up becoming wanted criminals in Japan, so they fled to China, where they had you. I was a bit surprised when you were brought home to me by a group of snotty kids. They took your DNA and looked for a match, didn’t they?”

Kodama scratched her hair, remembering the KND back then cut a few strands off. “When they gave me the obituary,” Odama continued, “there wasn’t anything in it relating to Kids Next Door, but I always thought they had something to do with it. They even questioned me to see if I was a criminal. But even if I was, they knew you needed someone to raise you. You can imagine they would be worried if you would try and follow their footsteps.”

“The Kids Next Door have something called a Shell 297 up on Moonbase.” Kodama explained. “Something my parents created. Do you know anything about it?”

Odama blew a smoke. “No, I’ve never heard. Though I’m pretty sure that they used the Brotherhood of Evil’s resources.”

“I thought the Brotherhood was frozen back then.”

“They were, but their base was still operable. And their boss had links to a bunch of intergalactic corporations. Your parents probably posed as their boss and ordered materials from them. It is online, after all.”

“What kinds of materials did they order?”

“I wouldn’t know. I reckon a lot of alien stuff.” He blew a smoke. “Why, what are you thinking?”

Kodama looked down reflectively. “If I just knew what the Shell 297 was made of… I could make one myself. I could fulfill my parents’ final wish and… light up the sky with their star.”

“How do you know if your parents wanted you to set it off? You aren’t planning to follow the villainous route they had, are you?”

“No, I’m not! I _know_ they want me to set it off! It’s in my blood!”

“If they were any good parents, they’d want you to stay away from it. For all we know, it’s a dangerous weapon that can destroy everyone within 30 miles of here. Would you really want to set something like that off?”

“I don’t believe my parents ever wanted to hurt anybody, let alone kill people! I know I brag about doing it, but I just want people to see my art, not destroy them with it! They were just misunderstood and got a little crazy. And if I don’t set it off, I’ll only spend the rest of my life wondering.”

Odama blew a smoke. “Well, if it’s that important for you… I guess I can’t stop you from going for it. I just hope you know what you’re doing. Still, if it’s up on that Moonbase thingy, how do you plan to get it out?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t think I’ll be able to without help.” Kodama turned around to walk back. “Huh?” Below the edge of the hill, her four teammates were standing in wait. “Guys? How long’ve you been there?”

“You didn’t give me a chance to scold you for what happened, so I followed you.” Karin answered.

“And I wanted to come because I was glad to be the one not getting scolded.” Jinta followed.

“And me and Yuzu came because we were worried.” Ururu said with her usual sad face. “I got her back to normal, just so you know.”

“Kodama-chan, is firing that shell really that important to you?” Yuzu asked.

“Yes, it is.” Kodama replied sternly.

“And you really won’t be satisfied until you launch it, will you.” Karin inquired.

“That’s right.”

“…Well, I guess we don’t have a choice.” The leader shrugged. “Let’s steal the thing.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Jinta questioned.

“If we’re gonna get in trouble for this, we might as well get in trouble as a team.”

“How come you’re okay with breaking into Moonbase, but not me signing up for a girls’ tournament?!”

“Because your thing just looked weird.”

“Ugh!”

“I knew I could count on you guys!” Kodama smirked eagerly. “And I have a plan! But we’re going to need some help…”

**Moonbase; the following day**

Business resumed flowing like normal on Moonbase. Operatives were still ordered to keep watch for Kodama, but so far, everything was fine. The hangar lookout saw that Sector JP’s S.C.A.M.P.E.R. was coming in, so he sent the memo to the other hangar guards. They allowed the ship to dock inside the hangar, but the guards had weapons trained as they gathered around the entrance hatch.

The JP members didn’t come out. Instead, several hatches opened on their ship’s roof and released orange fireworks into the main base. The missiles exploded, raining a fiery orange sauce on all of the surrounding operatives. They coughed when the sauce got in their mouths, cried when it got in their eyes, and itched when it got in their hair. Ururu, who had flown out of the ship moments ago in her shrunken form, wore a protective mask as she observed around the main floors. “It looks like we hit most of them.” she reported.

“Sector KB, it’s your turn!” Karin yelled in her communicator.

“Delicious!” Numbuh 2=1 proclaimed as they flew around Moonbase in their Swan Scamper. “Come on, fellas, let’s add a little heat to this grill!” Their ship blasted fireworks that made sudden flashes upon exploding, flashing a variety of colors. The sauce-induced operatives reacted to the rhythmic flashing pops by dancing to “Every Time You Leave” by Karma.

“Okay, Yuzu, go!”

Sleepwalker Yuzu, wearing her own mask and sunglasses, jigged to the beat herself as she made her way upstairs to Francis. Again, she swiped the boy’s Card Key, danced downstairs past all the hypnotized operatives, and slipped the key through its slot. She remembered the easiest password ever and typed ‘No Peeking’, then the Weapons Storage opened. “You coming, Grenda?”

“It’s Grenda time!” Grenda showed up at the storage, and the muscular girl lifted the Shell 297 with ease and ran out of there with it.

“Chimney, we got the runway clear, so you’re gold!” Karin yelled.

 _“OKAY!”_ Chimney yelled as the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N. skidded to a halt within the hangar.

Cheren Uno was holding his breath and squinting his eyes from the sauce as he navigated around the bridge. He saw Grenda charging over with the Shell 297 in her arms, and before he could move, the girl trampled over and crushed his back. “Sorry, Sweetie!” her gruff voice yelled. “I’ll make it up to you tonight with extra smooches!”

Grenda hauled the 297 onto the R.O.C.K.E.T.-T.R.A.I.N., which lifted off to fly away from Moonbase. “We got it, so let’s go!” Karin yelled before their S.C.A.M.P.E.R. escaped as well.

**Kodama’s House; that night**

Once Kodama was finished scrubbing the inside of their house’s chimney, Grenda came to plop the huge explosive on its side. “No, not like that!” Kodama yelled. “It has to be standing with the fuse facing up!”

“Sorry, sorry. My eyes flip directions sometimes.” Grenda replied before lifting the bomb up again. “Hey! There’s some weird symbols on the ball’s butt.”

Curious, Kodama came over to view the shell’s bottom. “That’s Japanese. It says…” Kodama read the name softly. _“The Day Star…!”_

“The Day Star?” Karin asked. “That’s what it’s called?”

“No, there’s another word.” Ururu pointed out. “It says…”

“Okay, we just filled up all the cannons!” Ruby came and announced excitedly. “We gonna blow these suckers up or what?”

“Why did we load all these other fireworks again?” Jinta asked.

“Because we have to get Karakura Town’s attention.” Kodama answered. “Make sure they’re all watching when it launches.”

“Hey, there’s someone coming down!” Yuzu yelled, pointing at a flying blue car with painted red flames in the sky.

The R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. landed a short distance away from the house as Cheren hopped out and approached them. “Did you guys SERIOUSLY plan an invasion of my Moonbase just to STEAL that thing?! What the hell were all of you thinking?!”

“We were thinking Kodama was gonna do it herself and get in trouble, anyway.” Karin responded. “We’re her team, so we gotta support her.”

“Yeah, ’cause you guys totally did that for me.” Jinta remarked sarcastically.

“Cheren, when are you gonna understand that this is a matter of following one’s dreams and passion?” Kodama questioned.

“When my seizures fade away from all that flashing, and probably not even then. If I let Viridi follow her passion, we wouldn’t all be here, would we?”

“Look, I don’t care if I get in trouble, but this is ART!”

“Art, shmart! (Er, smart? No, shmart.) Go get the Shell 297 and stop this crazy operation once and for all!”

“Uhhh… that’s gonna be a problem.” Ruby said.

“And why’s that?”

“Because I already lit all the fuses.”

“It was inevitable.” Sapphire said.

With a worried expression, Cheren saw that small sparks were burning along the many fuses. Within seconds, cannons _BOOMED_ , bombs flew into the night sky, and exploded into wondrous colors.

Everybody in Karakura Town saw them from the distance. What the celebration was for, they weren’t sure. But all of them were curious, so they made their way to the forest. There were many symbols like the Hidden Leaf crest, a Straw Hat Jolly Roger, a fairy with a tail, a six-fingered hand, a pink rose, and one shaped like Seth MacFarlane.

“AAAAHHH!” Cheren panicked. “Which one has the 297?! Kodama, STOP all this before it goes off!”

“Cheren, just LOOK!” Kodama forced the boy to look upwards and stare at the exploding colors. They all glinted off his glasses. The green, magenta, silver, gold, burnt sienna, and tangerine. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Kodama asked, smiling. “This is all my parents wanted to do. To make their own stars light up the sky, so people may wish upon them. I’m just trying to continue that tradition. Don’t you try to be like your parents?”

“Well, yeah, but… my parents were good guys.”

“And my parents were misunderstood. Sure, they tried to blow up Arctic Base, but in the end, they were artists. They wanted people to recognize their art. That’s why, every time I see my babies explode… I see my parents in those colors.”

“…Sigh.” Cheren smiled in disbelief. “You artists sure are weird.”

The light show continued for several more minutes. They saw images of a witch’s hat, a fiery skull, and “KND.” Eventually, the starry sky became clear and quiet.

“…So which one was the shell?” Cheren asked.

“I hope it wasn’t a dud.” Jinta said.

“It should’ve gone off.” Kodama looked at the chimney. “We had a fuse linked to it and-”

The chimney _BOOMED_ , and the large shell flew into the sky. Kodama gazed with awe as it flew higher and higher. _POP!_ The Day Star literally lit up the night like day. A mini sun hovering within their atmosphere. The sky was bright blue instead of indigo. The clouds were white and not dark. The streetlights went off. Birds woke up. School bells rang. The schedule was all out of order.

Nobody took their eyes off the Day Star. It was the most amazing thing they’ve seen. A true marvel of a firework. Kodama’s eyes watered with pride and… pain. She couldn’t find the words. _Mommy… Daddy… I love it. The Day Star… Kodama._

The star disappeared. Darkness returned to Karakura Town. Everybody was muttering in astonishment. No one would know how such a marvel could be possible. They wondered if they would ever see again… literally.

“….Did your parents say when our eyesight would come back?” Jinta asked.

The operatives held their hands in front of their blank eyes, and walked around cautiously. “Uh… give it a minute or two.” Kodama said, still smiling bright. “But maybe just stand around so we don’t trip on anything.”

“Sigh… So that’s what it did.” Cheren sighed in disbelief.

__

_Everybody who saw the Day Star go off went blind._

_But since it hadn’t been used in so long, it only lasted for 10 minutes._

_Kodama was held responsible and imprisoned within Arctic Base._

_Since it didn’t cause too much harm, she was released after a day._

**Sector JP Treehouse; the night after…**

The members of Sector JP were asleep, except for one. She went around to each of their rooms. Yuzu Kurosaki was sleeping peacefully… she made sure both halves were at ease and got a good rest. She hoped her sister was feeling better with the chores divided up, and would be able to handle herself on an actual mission when it came.

Jinta Hanakari was sleeping in his day clothes as usual, not at all caring if he smells in the morning, in his disorganized room with many holes. In the end, she knew that Jinta only wanted to be himself. And deep down, he was glad to have them all as friends. He was just too cool to admit it.

Ururu Tsumugiya was hugging her teddy lion as she slept. She dreamed about cuddling with Jinta, most likely. Ururu wanted to always be there for Jinta, no matter what happened. She was small, but she was strong in her own way. She thought Ururu was a good girl for Jinta, because even though he was a fun rival, she wouldn’t think about dating him.

Lastly, she visited Kodama’s room. After everything that’s happened, she was happily asleep in her room full of dangerous explosives. She got to realize her parents’ dream and light the night sky with her star.

Karin Kurosaki smiled to herself after checking each of their rooms. Her teammates were a fun bunch, and she was glad to be a part of them. Every day, they found some way to have fun. “Well… time to do my night job.” She said to herself, getting dressed. As she was about to set foot on the treehouse balcony, she stood in the doorway and looked back in the direction of their rooms. There were times when she thought about telling her friends her secret… but she didn’t want to get them involved. Knowing them, they would get their selves involved even if she told them not to. “Sigh, it’s not a big deal, anyway.” She tells herself afterwards. “Better to let them sleep and not worry. …” With that, she stepped outside and shut the door.

 

**The first chapter didn’t exactly count as Karin’s big moment, just an introductions and a flashback. ;P Next time, Karin’s REAL chapter. For now, have an Atbash.**

**…**

**_RG’H QFHG XLRMXRWVMXV_ **

**_DV XSLHV QRMGZ’H DRHS_ **  


  



	6. Karin Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sector JP suspects Karin may be keeping a secret from them. Little do they know of her night job.

**The title of this chapter may appear a tad “lame,” but the reason I make it like that is because it’s sarcastic humor… or whatever it’s called. You’ll see what I mean.**

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Chapter 6: Karin Again

_**

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**Sector JP Treehouse**

Karin stepped out onto the balcony and viewed the city in the distance. It was a chilly, cloudy night, and wind breezed her short hair. After minutes of waiting, the spirit child with red eyes and hot pink hair, Yachiru, appeared. “Hello, Karin-chan!” the child beamed. “I see you’re up and early!”

“Hey, Yachiru-san.” Karin gave a light smile. “Do we have a job tonight?”

“Oh, you know the answer to that, silly!”

“Yeah…” Karin looked down and blew out some blue breath. “I have that chill-mouth. So, where are they?”

“Oh, just in the forest, a little north from here. It shouldn’t take long. I promise you’ll get back to bed in a jiffy!”

“Great. _Yaaaawn_ ,” Karin stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes. “Man, when I get older, I never want a night job.”

“You don’t have to do it, you know. The Spirit KND has plenty of operatives, so if you’d rather stick with your own…”

“Thanks, but I can handle it. After all, it is my hometown. I feel like I have a responsibility.”

“Okay, then! LET’S GO!” Yachiru flew under the balcony. Karin hopped up on the railing before jumping off.

**Yuzu’s room**

Yuzu Kurosaki lay in peaceful slumber in hers and Karin’s shared treehouse room. With both her halves at rest, she was unaware that the bed beside her was empty. “Mmmmm…” Yuzu moaned softly, shivering from a nightmare.

“Waaaaah!” She startled awake. “Oh, my! I had a nightmare that I forgot to put Jinta’s clothes in the washer! Lord knows he needs it.” “Chill out, Girl, he likes to stink!” Yuzu shrugged coolly. “But it isn’t healthy for him. He might develop an infection.” Yuzu contradicted. “So what? I never wash my clothes, and I smell like the boxing ring. Probly because I visit it every Sunday.” “Well, that’s nice.” Yuzu replied with a sweatdrop. “Uh-?” She flinched, realizing she was conversing with herself.

Yuzu’s right eye was bright and lively. Her left eye was shady and cool. Yuzu felt around her face. “Wait…” The livelier Yuzu spoke.

“You’re…” The cooler Yuzu followed.

The girl pointed both index fingers at each other. “You’re my other half!” “…Wow, it’s nice to finally meet you!” Day Yuzu beamed.

“You, too! They been talkin’ about you.” Night Yuzu returned.

“This is so weird.” Yuzu tipped a finger to her chin. “I wonder why this never happened before.

“Probly b’cause whenever _I_ wake up, you asleep.

“But now that we’re asleep at the same time, either one of us could wake up.” Day Yuzu configured.

“Or both. It’s so weird, I ain’t even feel like I’m me. And… I am me, too. Like, more o’ me.

“Hmmm… Well, now that we’re up, I suppose we’ll check on that laundry. I know I promised my friends I wouldn’t work so hard, but-… Karin-nee?” Yuzu looked at the other bed. It was empty.

“’Guess I ain’t the only gal with another side.” Night Yuzu said.

“Oh, don’t be silly.” Day Yuzu smiled. “She’s probably just getting a drink of milk. Karin always does, considering how loud she snores. Let’s get some together.”

Yuzu threw off her blanket and placed both feet on the floor. “W-Whoa-whoa…” Her legs wobbled as she tried to walk. “Ohhh!” She stumbled and leaned against the open doorway. “I’m having trouble!

“No, you making me slip!” Night Yuzu argued.

“I am not! Okay, let’s take it slow. I’m right foot, you’re left foot.”

Yuzu took slow, steady steps down the hall, holding arms out to either side. “I think… we got the hang of it.

“Yah, but we still gotta hold weight… on the other leg, or we trip.” Night Yuzu noted.

“I know… but it’s a matter of taking turns, you know?” Day Yuzu smiled.

Yuzu made it to the laundry room and turned on the light. The basket was empty and the washer was still active. “Hoo.” Day Yuzu sighed.

“See, you worry. Even with all the work you do.” Night remarked.

“It’s still worth it in the end. Hey, doesn’t my body feel tired after I used it all day?

“Nah, I feel refreshed and rejuved or whatev’. Don’ you feel pooped after my clubbin’?

“Well, you always seem to knock yourself out. Let’s get that drink.”

Yuzu limped to the kitchen and opened the fridge, working with her other half to pour a glass of milk. They stumbled and spilled a little, but managed to get a whole glass. “Still, I really enjoy having another half!” Day Yuzu said happily. “It makes me feel closer with my inner self. In fact, Yuzu, you may even be… my shadow.

“Wait, so I a shadowbender?!

“N-No, no. But me and Karin read a book that describes how people can get in touch with their shadows if they’re going through trouble. And you don’t even have to be a bender.

“Makes sense, ’cause they said you workin’ too hard. What’s a deal with that?

“Oh… It was because our mom died, so I tried to do all the housework.” Yuzu blushed. “Now the others are helping me with chores. It’s really sweet of them…” Her mind zoned out in reflective thought. She shook back to focus and said, “You know, Yuzu, you’re kind of like a member of this team now, too. The sixth member we never had.

“Oh, cool! Does this mean I get a chapter?

“No, I think that’s just for both of us.” Yuzu blushed. “Still, you deserve some kind of welcome party. I should tell Karin-nee to…” She remembered how her sister was absent from bed and turned around. “Huh… I didn’t see her on the way down the hall. I wonder where she went?

“I teeeell yoooou. Other half.

“Come on, Yuzu. I’m sure _you_ of all people would be aware of that. …” The girl stared at the balcony thoughtfully. Both halves held the same look in their eyes.

**Karakura Forest**

Karin ran stalwartly through the woods, jumping every fallen branch and bush as she followed Yachiru, who was flying. Karin breathed, and her blue breath flowed out. “We’re getting close now, I bet.”

“Uh-huh.” Yachiru nodded. “They’re right here.”

After rounding another group of trees, they found them. There were eight monsters with holes in their chests and skulls for faces. They had various colors and were on all fours like apes. The monsters smelled the girls’ presence and turned to snarl at them. “Hollows. Same as ever.” Yachiru said, glaring. “Wherever there’s energy to feed on, it’s all-you-can-eat.”

“Disgusting monsters.” Karin cracked her knuckles. “Want to eat me? Think I taste good? Well, get ready. Because I taste a little spicy!” She thrusted her arms to either side. Bright blue flames encased Karin’s body.

A black robe with white edges, similar to Yachiru’s, spawned over her body. She had blue flames around her ankles, and her body had a white glow. She grabbed her soccerball, tossed it in the air, and when her foot made contact, it became a burning blue ball that rocketed through two Hollows and destroyed them. The ape-like demons lunged at Karin, who dodged and smashed their masks with her kicks, causing them to disappear. A larger Hollow tried to grab Yachiru, but the small child ran up its arm and stabbed its skull, destroying him. She leapt and cut a thinner Hollow in perfect half. With two Hollows left, Karin and Yachiru exchanged pleasant nods. They charged an energy ray in both their hands, blasted forward, and destroyed the two simultaneously.

“Phew. Another easy job.” Karin sighed. “Nothing big. Is there anything else to do?”

“Well, they did want me to hunt for Poes wandering the city. But Karin-chan, you should go to bed; it’s not often we get a short job.”

“No, it’s all right. I need to work on my Ghost Sense, anyway. When those ghost pirates attacked us, I didn’t see it ’til it was too late. If I don’t get better, something bad can happen.”

“Well, okay. But don’t push yourself.”

“Lemme just fly back to the treehouse, make sure there’s no one attacking.” Karin flew above the trees and toward the distant colossal tree. A gray bird was perched on a branch, and its beady black eyes seemed to zoom on the spirits.

She phased through the outside of the treehouse and became visible inside the kitchen—“Hu!!” She was caught within the peripheral vision of Yuzu’s right eye—the sister looked over, Karin turned invisible.

Yuzu gasped and dropped her glass of milk. Karin floated still, but didn’t dare become visible. Her ghostly heart was racing. “Di-Di-Di…Did you see that?

“Huh? Sorry, I blinked.” Night Yuzu said.

“J-Just now… I saw… Karin-nee…

“Whut? Where?

“Well, it… looked like… nee. Did I imagine that? Or… did _you_ imagine it? …Where is Karin, anyway?” She looked around.

“HIGH, Karin-!” Yachiru popped in.

“Sssssss!” Karin clamped the spirit’s mouth shut.

“Hu!” Yuzu gasped. “I heard something! It sounded like a snake!

“A SNAKE? Dude, I want it!” Night Yuzu yelled.

“No! T-Turn on the light, and watch where you step!”

Panicking, Karin flew out of the treehouse with Yachiru in tow. She released the pink-haired spirit. “Huff, that was too close!”

“You almost blew your secret identity!” Yachiru said. “That means you’ll have to work for Marvel instead of DC.”

“Sigh… Okay, GOTTA be more careful with flying in the treehouse. Let’s just go and catch those Poes. If Yuzu already knows I’m not in bed… I don’t think it’ll be safe to return.” They flew to town.

**Panda Bubba’s Hideout**

Ember McLain sat on an old, rotting couch, disgusted over the layout of this sewer lair. As she was tuning her guitar, a green light began to spawn beside her, with green molecules. “HUUUUFF!” Youngblood gasped. “You didn’t even TRY to help me collect my particles?”

“It seemed like a chore.”

“Well, thanks for nothing! You know how hard it was to clean the particles with spinach on the tastebuds?”

“Cease your mindless chattering!” Panda Bubba yelled at them. “He is here.”

The entrance to the hideout opened. The black and white door guards bowed before the dark, burly robot, whose boots clanked forcefully with each step. “Lord Hannibal Bean.” Panda bowed. “A thousand apologies for our humiliating defeat. Those children of Sector JP were stronger than expected. We-”

 _“Oh, what’s life without a few bumps in the road?”_ Hannibal’s country accent echoed from the robot. _“I don’t mind about the yo-yo so much, anymore. Rather… I am curious. In the story you reported to me, over JP’s brisk invasion… you described and named a very peculiar operative. I think it’s time for a long-awaited meeting.”_

**Kurosaki House, the next morning**

A rooster cawed, signaling the arrival of the sun. Karin Kurosaki woke up in the room she shared with Yuzu. Her eyes were still weary after the long night of hunting for Poes. With her faulty Ghost Sense, it took roughly three hours to find 12 Poes wandering the city, and it may not’ve been all of them. She was afraid Yuzu would catch her after being out so late, so she decided to retreat to their main home. _I’ve gotta get better at this._ she thought to herself. The elder twin climbed out of bed and to the hallway.

“KARIN-CHAAAAAN!” Her excitable father dove at her exuberantly.

Karin kicked up with her leg perfectly straight and struck her father upside the chin. Isshin Kurosaki was a pudgy man with standing black hair and a 5-o’clock shadow. His pajamas consisted of a black shirt, blue pants, and white socks. “Dad, this is why I like sleeping at the treehouse. I don’t like dealing with this every morning.”

He was quick to get up on his feet, smirking energetically. “You should get used to it, Karin! Danger can come at you when you least expect, so keeping your eyes and ears open is a must.”

“The Kids Next Door gave me that training, plus more.” Karin said as she walked to the kitchen. “An average adult like you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m sure you and your friends get into lots of life-or-death games.” Isshin shrugged as he followed her. “You’ve been playing so much, when do you have time to spend with your old man?”

“When that old man stops being a lunatic.” Karin glanced at a huge poster of a beautiful, orange-haired woman in the dining room. “When are you gonna take down that poster of Mom? I know it’s in her memory, but it just feels… creepy.”

“DON’T SAY THAT ABOUT MASAKI!” Isshin cried and pressed his body on the poster. “My dear sweet Masaki-chan, why did you have to leave!” He kissed the protective glass lovingly.

Karin stared with a totally weirded look. She heard a knock at their door and said, “I’ll get it.” When Karin answered, her sister greeted her with shock.

“Karin! There you are!”

“Oh, Yuzu. Hey, I… guess you saw me missing in bed last night?”

“So I wasn’t dreaming!” Yuzu said scoldingly. “Karin, you tell me where you were right now!”

“Take it easy! I remembered this homework assignment we got and I left my stuff in our house, so I rushed down and tried to cram it in. _Yaaaaaaawn_.” She smacked her lips after yawning, and there were bags clean under her eyes. “Took me all night.”

“H…Homework?” Yuzu blinked in confusion. “Is that what… you were doing?”

“W-… Yeah. What’d you think I was doing?”

“I…I don’t know.” The two stared at each other for a while. Karin suspected she didn’t believe the lie, and yet, Yuzu wasn’t sure what she saw last night, either. “Well, I can cook you breakfast if you want.”

“Not now. I wanna take a bath, then I’ll probably take a quick nap.”

“Oh… alright.” Karin turned to head for the bathroom while Yuzu entered the house. “Oh, Karin? When you get done with all that, do you want to… go to the beach with everyone later?”

Karin stopped to let her finish the question. For a second, Yuzu believed Karin would make some excuse, regarding what she saw last night. But the elder twin turned and sported a smile. “Sure, Yuzu! It would be great to catch a few rays!”

“Hmhmhm!” Yuzu smiled back.

Once Karin was settled in her bath, she let her mind and body relax. She let her exhaust flow away like twigs in a river. Soon, she would get another mission, either at day or at night, so her chance to recover was now. Karin held her left hand above her floating head and stared at the palm. “Everything has a soul…” She thought aloud, softly. “People, plants, and objects… Everything that exists in this world has life. That’s why we defend it all. Look closely, and you’ll see the soul in everything.”

Karin sat up and scooped water in her hand. “So does that mean this water has a soul?” She stared at the tiny serving. Her eyes, bleary from tiredness and the heat, narrowed on the water in her hand. She tried to see the soul it possessed… feel it… “Mmmmm.” She let the water spill back in the tub before laying back. “I don’t wanna deal with it now. I just wanna get my strength back… and spend it having fun. Don’t wanna deal with this until night comes.” She took a long inhale through her nose and released, making ripples on the water.

**Karakura Beach**

Karin and Yuzu played against Jinta and Ururu in a rivalrous game of tennis. Karin wore a black one-piece with big gray stripes down the sides, Yuzu wore a green- and yellow-striped two-piece, Jinta wore red shorts, and Ururu had a white two-piece with pink polka-dots. The only two determined players were Karin and Jinta, powered by a passion to beat the other. Yuzu and Ururu held their rackets ready just in case, but they made only weak bounces, while their leaders struck the ball more forcefully. “You’ve fallen for my trap NOW, Karin!” Jinta yelled, jumping at the ball just inches from the net to bash it over again.

Karin slid along the sand, hit the ball under the net, and let it land on Jinta’s side. “You fell for mine.”

“DARN IT! That was a cheap!”

“Strategy wins wars, too.” Karin smirked.

Kodama released a firework that popped into a ‘5’. She wore a blue two-piece with yellow explosion designs and was knelt on the sand. “That’s five points for Team Kurosaki and,” she released one on the other side that popped a ‘3’, “three for Team Lovers.”

 _“I told you not to call us that.”_ Jinta said through gritted teeth, while Ururu giggled.

“Just give me your snack money.” Karin held a hand out.

“Fine.” Jinta reached in his pocket and smacked the money in her hand. “I wanna grape bar.”

“I’ll decide when I get there.” Karin walked to the snack bar.

Once she was far enough away, Yuzu put on a serious look and spoke to her teammates, “Guys, I need to talk with you about something. It’s about Karin.”

“Gossip ’bout Karin? I’m up for it.” Jinta remarked.

“No, it’s… I woke up last night and Karin wasn’t in bed. I wondered where she was for a while, and when I got up to get a drink, I… thought I saw here. S-She was in a black cloak, but I only had a short time to notice before… she vanished. Then I heard a hissing sound that sounded like a snake, but there was no snake when I looked.”

“A-Are you sure?” Ururu asked, quivering at the thought of a snake in the treehouse.

“I’m just saying, it was too weird for me to imagine _both_ things. I found Karin in our house this morning, and she said she’d been doing homework. I think… Do you think Karin has something… that she’s not telling us?”

“W…Whaddo you mean?” Kodama questioned.

“Well… like something she does only at night?” The others exchanged glances. They got the hint Yuzu was also referencing her second half. “I don’t want to make any wild assumptions, but…”

“Guys, I’m back.” Karin called upon returning with food and drinks. “I hope I remembered the flavors you wanted.” She passed them to each of her friends. “So what were you guys talking about?”

“Uh… Yuzu was just telling us…” Jinta began, but paused midsentence as he tried to think. Karin glanced at Yuzu.

“About this hard homework she had to do.” Ururu finished. “Yeah…”

“Homework?” That registered a subtle response in Karin’s eyes. She stared curiously at Yuzu, who looked so lost with words, she wanted to put on the Tiny Devil and shrink away from her sister’s vision. “Um… Alright, the score’s 5-3, so let’s see if Team Dollhouse can catch up.” Jinta scowled at the new team name. After finishing their snacks, the second round began.

**Downtown, that evening**

“So Yuzu, you were really possessed by your other self last night?” Jinta questioned as they walked downtown under the twilight.

“Not really ‘possessed,’ more like… shared. And she told me about this soda bar she goes to, I figure we could check it out. I probably won’t recognize anybody…”

“So that’s why you were…” Karin said very lowly.

“What was that, Karin?”

“No, nothing.”

“Are you really sure we should be out like this?” Ururu questioned. “What if the Brotherhood attacks our treehouse again?”

“No worries, I set up the Sooper Defense System.” Kodama replied. “Let’s just hope my grandpa doesn’t decide to approach the treehouse and shout at me.”

“I thought all those Brotherhood guys were supposed to be frozen.” Jinta said. “How come last summer, they all decided to unfreeze all of a sudden?”

“Someone must have done it.” Ururu replied. “When I was inside that Panda guy’s office, he mentioned a name, but I don’t… I think it was Lord Bea or something…”

Karin felt a tingle in her skin, but she wasn’t sure why. “Either way, it’s nice to have a day without missions or drama.” Ururu said after a moment of silence.

“Yeah…” Karin smiled awkwardly. Just then, her cellphone started beeping.

“Whuh? A mission?” Yuzu asked.

The dark-haired twin pulled out her phone to see a skull icon on the screen. “N-No, it’s… I’ll be right back.” Karin jogged down an alleyway, far enough from her team, but kept in sight so she didn’t look suspicious. “Hello?” she answered.

_“Hi, Karin-chan! It’s me, Yachiru. I got in my Gigai and figured out how a phone booth works! At least, I think it’s how it works. We’re allowed to take the money out of the machine, right-”_

_“Get to the point, Yachiru!”_ Karin whispered angrily.

_“Right, okay… I picked up a huge spiritual pressure in the forest again. It feels more like a Poe’s soul than a Hollow. I wonder if it’s the boss of the ones we captured? I would say I can handle it myself, but my teammates are busy, and he feels…”_

“Sigh… alright.” She hung up. “Guys, that was my dad, he got stuck under the hood while trying to fix the car. I gotta run home.” She ran past her friends and down the opposite road.

“Wait, we can help, too!” Yuzu yelled.

“No thanks, bring me back a soda!” she yelled and kept running.

“…” The friends exchanged nods. “Did you bring it, Ururu?” Yuzu asked.

“Mm-hm.” She nodded, dropped her backpack, and took the Tiny Devil out of it.

**Karakura Forest**

Karin doesn’t remember the last time she became a ghost during sunset. The orange highlights on her hair complimented this form, and the view was amazing from up here. Yachiru was able to find her. “Sorry if I interrupted anything, Karin.”

“Let’s just get it over with. Where is it?”

“That way!” Yachiru was quick to point in a direction as Karin chased.

The younger spirit led below the trees, so Karin made herself intangible to phase through them. _“RAAAAAH!”_ They gasped and dodged when a massive ghost lashed its scythe. The Grim Repoe wore a white cloak with narrowed eyes in the dark of its hood, wore a necklace emitting purple flames, and a large white scythe.

“I’m guessing he’s it!” Karin exclaimed before dodging the scythe. The Repoe twirled his weapon and created whirlwinds that blew around in circles. They caught the leaves from bushes and trees, which were directed at the spirits afterward. Karin squinted her eyes, unable to see in this debris, but saw the Repoe’s slash just in time to dodge back. The front of her chest was scratched, and she winced with pain.

“YAH!” Yachiru yelped, striking the Poe from the side. The monster swung at her, but Yachiru shot upward and tried to stab her sword down, only for the ghost to counter with equal strength. “Karin, now!” The older girl kicked her ball, which caught aflame and struck the ghost’s necklace. The Repoe flew through several trees and caused them to tear down, but the ghost was still strong.

 _“Kariiiiiiin!”_ a distant voice called. The Repoe perked up its attention, and Karin felt a skip in her heart. _“Karin, where are yoooouuu!”_

“No!” Karin yelled, growing tense at the sound of her sister’s voice. The Repoe abandoned his fight and flew in the sounds’ direction.

“Are you sure you saw her fly in here, Ururu?” Jinta asked as the girl floated normal size in her Tiny Devil.

“Who else would it be? She was just floating, talking to herself, and then she flew-” The trees ahead were suddenly chopped down. The Grim Repoe screeched at them.

“AAAAAAHHHH!” The kids screamed in utter and horrific shock. The ravenous ghost raised its scythe to stab down, but Karin flew in the way and blocked the blade with her own hands. It was painful, but her ghostly strength withstood, and she kicked a foot to hit the ghost’s necklace with an Ecto Ray. When the Repoe backed away, Karin held her kickball, spun around and around while lighting it with ecto, then kicked it at the necklace with a more powerful burst. The ghost’s body disappeared, leaving only the soul that came from the lantern. Yachiru trapped it in her bottle and gave thumbs up. “Mmm!”

Karin returned the nod and gesture. She then flinched, whipping around to view her gaping teammates. She glanced back at Yachiru, who shrugged. If her info was correct, her friends could not see Yachiru or any spirit. But they could see ghosts. Karin sighed and set foot on the ground, admitting defeat as she morphed back into her human form. “Hey… guys.”

The friends were still awestruck, and the fact Karin would submit so easily was even more surprising. “…AAAAAHHH!” Jinta ran and hurled his fist across Karin’s jaw. The girl stumbled away slightly, but recomposed as she rubbed her jaw and glared at her teammate. “AAAHH!” Jinta ran and swung punches at Karin left and right. The others covered their mouths and stared with silent horror. Karin made no effort to block his assault. “It’s no wonder you never get tired if you’re already DEAD!”

Karin finally grabbed his fist. “Cut it out, Jinta! I’m not dead, I’m… Well, I dunno what I am, but it’s none of your business!” She shoved him away.

Jinta regained his footing and stated, “None of my business, my ass. Who’s the girl that yells at me for disobeying her orders? The one who’s always about having a good team, making sure the others pull their weight. Well, it’s sure as hell hard to do that when you don’t even let your team IN on stuff!”

“Augh! I don’t wanna deal with this right now, so let’s just go home.” Karin tried to stomp past them, but Yuzu grabbed her shoulder from behind.

“Karin, why would you never tell any of us this? Me, of all people?”

“You’re the last person I wanted to find out, Yuzu. With all the work you do, you would’ve gone bat guano crazy if you knew this.”

“At least I would have a reason to! Don’t you think your own sister would want to know if you were DEAD?!”

“I SAID I’M NOT- ugh! …” Karin clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. It was hard to process her words in her aggravation. “None of what I’m doing concerns you guys at all. But I’ve been doing this for a while, so you can rest well knowing that I can handle it.”

“But this has something to do with where you’re getting the ectoplasm, right?” Kodama questioned. “As a pyrotechnician, I need to know where I’m getting my illegal substances. (That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t still use them, but I still wanna know.)”

Karin released a calm, though annoyed sigh. Her teammates weren’t going to let it slide. She opened her eyes halfway and said, “The truth is, I’m a Halfa.”

“A Whata?” Jinta asked.

“Half-human, half-ghost. That’s what they call us.”

“‘Us’?” Yuzu asked.

“Yeah, it’s happened before a few times. If a human is hit with a large force of spiritual energy, they gain superhuman powers.”

“Like metahuman?”

“Kind of, but more ghostly. Look, let’s go back to the treehouse, I’ll explain how it happened…”

**5 years ago…**

There were no clouds in the orange sky on a peaceful evening in Karakura Town. Masaki Kurosaki, a beautiful woman with a pink blouse and blue dress, walked her twin 6-year-old daughters up a white, stone stairway, carved within a grass hill. Her shiny orange hair had the same color as the sunset.

The top of the hill provided a lovely view of the town’s main river, which glinted the fiery twilight. “Here we are, kids.” Masaki said.

They were at a graveyard with solid white stones. It wasn’t enormous, but there were still a large amount. “So many!” Yuzu said, her young, adorable eyes widened. A child as young as herself was still astonished by any big quantity.

“So, who died again? I forget.” Karin said.

“Hm, nobody died.” Masaki smiled and chuckled at the misunderstanding. “Well, a few of our relatives are buried here. But I mostly brought you kids to embrace the environment.”

“Environment?”

“Yeah. All these people have died, sure… but I feel their spirits still linger. They leave a kind of energy and… essence.”

“Sure they do. Their dead bodies are buried underground. Getting dirt in their bones and stuff.”

“Karin!” Yuzu gripped and hid behind her mom’s dress in terror. “Don’t say things like that.”

“But it’s in my game, _Zombie Hunter_. Where zombies come outta the ground and you shoot ’em.”

“I told Dad not to buy that game!” the younger twin shivered.

“It’s rated E10. That’s close enough to my age.”

“Both of you are missing the point!” Masaki giggled.

“What? You mean about the ghosts?” Karin asked.

“No- well, yes… I just want you kids to understand what… spirits and ghosts are. Most children like you find them to be scary like the ghosts in movies. But spirits are gentle beings. They’re one with nature. They’re everywhere. They give humans the sense that we’re never alone. And ghosts are the same, too.”

“What’s the difference between a spirit and a ghost?”

“That takes a little explaining.” Masaki said sheepishly. “But I don’t wanna drive you away from the main point. I want you kids to understand that, even if there’s no one in the same place or room as you, you never have to feel alone. There will always be a spirit watching you.”

“Like when I’m taking a bath? Ew!” Yuzu quivered.

“Not all spirits are respectful.” Masaki blushed.

The family of three walked around the graveyard for the next several minutes. The children were merely skimming the names and dates on gravestones, not paying any sort of mind. They were really just bored and waiting for their mother to say they could leave. The sun was sinking lower over the horizon, so the opposite side of their bodies were shading.

Then Karin saw something pretty. It was a small blue light floating around the air. It glinted off her dark gray eyes. She smiled with curiosity and chased it. She climbed the short stone wall around the graveyard and chased it into the forest.

“Karin?” Masaki saw her daughter run off. “Karin, come back here! Don’t just run off! Yuzu, wait here.” The woman hurried after her older daughter.

Karin followed the light to an open area of forest, before it stopped and floated in place. She slowly approached and reached a hand up, even though she was too short to grab it. “Karin!” Her mother caught up. “Sigh, what has gotten into you?”

Karin turned around, still giving a curious smile as she looked up at her mother. …Karin frowned. Up in the trees above Masaki’s head were a pair of glowing red eyes. “MOM-!” she tried to yell, but the monster came down, and everything went black.

**Somewhere dark**

Karin felt herself regain consciousness, but the world was still black. Her hands and feet were binded by huge cuffs as she lay on a table. “AAAAAAHHH!” Karin screamed when a green electricity shocked her through the cuffs.

“She regained consciousness.” an old, hoarse voice spoke.

“Good.” Karin lifted her head up. There was a bald, skinny old man in a blue uniform, and a huge dark robot with horns. The clanks of its metal boots echoed in the darkness. “Now we can finish our experiment.” The robot spoke in a country accent.

 _“When do I get to eat her?”_ a dark voice that was behind Karin asked. _“You said I could eat her!”_

“In due time, Mister Lucy. First, I need to be sure…”

“Sigh…” The old man sighed. “I can’t believe you persuaded me to work with these creatures. These… Hollows.”

“The very reason I awoke you and Madame Rouge before the other villains.” The robot said. “General Immortus, your knowledge is a gift. A man cursed into eternal life by the negligence of the Great Clock’s caretakers. What Ah wouldn’t give to have more people like you in my care. You said these monsters were very much like the Heartless Lord Gnaa awakened, correct? I wish to reawaken them myself. It could not be impossible, given what’s coming.”

“AAAAAHHH!” They shocked Karin with the green energy again.

“This same project was what Darth Genious intended to use to transform Emily Matthews into a Heartless. Instead, she became a half-ghost. An impressive feat, nonetheless. But I believe if I take it one step further, we can achieve different results.”

The table began to shift vertically. Karin was gasping after so many shocks, yet it was surprising that her clothes were only slightly torn. The monster that she saw earlier crawled around in front of her. It was… some kind of huge two-legged fish with a skull face, glowing red eyes, and reddish-pink skin. Karin gasped: her mother, Masaki was tied up and dangling by his face from his angler.

“My Dear, allow me to introduce Lucifer.” The robot smirked. “He is an Arrancar-type Hollow. How ironic, that the earliest known Arrancar in history would be a Nimbi. They were really God-heavy back then, heh heh. I thank you for helping me with this project, Lucy. You may eat now.”

 _“Oh, it was my pleasure, Lord Bean. I’m always up for a free meal. I just hope it isn’t as sour as my last one.”_ The fish-like demon opened his mouth and moved Masaki closer.

“NOOOO!” Karin tried to shake free desperately, but the child was too weak. Tears streamed from her eyes. “MOOOOOM!”

“Ka…Karin…” The woman spoke lowly. Her orange eyes opened, and she saw her daughter’s despairing look through the monster’s teeth. Masaki smiled. “I’ll always… be with you…”

Lucifer’s teeth bit through the flesh and soaked red in blood. Karin choked on her own breath, unable to look away from the horrific sight. Lucifer munched the flesh, but he didn’t seem to swallow anything. _“BLUCH!”_ The demon spat the mangled corpse on the floor. _“Oh, it is sour! It tastes like love! UCK!”_ The monster quickly brushed his tongue. _“I can’t possibly stomach that.”_

“No matter.” said Lord Bean. “As long as she’s dead.”

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!” Karin’s screams were mixed with the deadly green shocking. The transfer of energy didn’t stop. It was touching her very nerves, her heart. Her despairing, turmoiled heart. She was becoming one with the darkness.

“I feel her darkness rising.” Bean smirked. “One strike with the Darkness Cannon should close the lid.” He grabbed a large black gun and charged its purple light.

A pair of sharp red eyes glared at them from the black ceiling. It leaped down, its target Lucifer. _“Huh? UAAAAH!”_

A sword cut down the middle of Lucifer’s mask. The two-legged fish dispersed into darkness. “Lucifer!” Bean exclaimed.

 _“Augh, no great loss. That body was failing me. I’m returning to Mexico.”_ His dark essence disappeared.

The mysterious figure chopped the Darkness Cannon, then sliced the cuffs binding Karin. She hit the floor, body still shining with a supernatural green. “Nnnnnnnn!” Pain overcame her, she couldn’t push herself up from the floor.

Lord Bean grabbed Immortus and flew away with his jetshoes, pressing a self-destruct button. “This ain’t the last you’ll hear o’ me, you brats!” And they were gone to let the hideout and everything in it explode.

…

Karin fell asleep again. Her body felt light and one with air. She thought her eyes were open, but she could see nothing, not even her own limbs. She had no idea she was descending through the very earth, deeper and deeper into the mantle.

Finally, she fell beyond a surface and had sight again. Karin looked up and gasped: she was falling into a pit of lava. She had fallen all the way into the Earth’s core. Very slowly, but the danger was all too apparent. Karin flailed her young arms and legs, but the molten inferno awaited. The light grew brighter in her eyes. Unlike the beautiful sunset that matched her mother’s hair, Karin saw death in that light. In just minutes, her weightless body would burn. She would be in Heaven with her mother.

A hand grabbed the ankle on Karin’s left foot. The girl looked down (which was actually up). A child with hot pink hair, red eyes, and a black robe with white edges was floating. “I was wondering where you were! It’s good that I came before you cooked like a turkey.” She grinned spritely.

“Who…Who are you?!” Karin asked loudly.

“I’m Ya-chi-ru.” She sounded the word with her lips. “Numbuh Crossbones of the Spirit KND. I came to save you from burning like cookies in the oven. Say the word, and I’ll take you back to where you came from. Unless you’d rather die.”

“No! No, I don’t wanna die!” Karin panicked.

“What?” Yachiru blinked. “No?”

“No, I don’t wanna die! I don’t!”

Yachiru smiled. “Those are very important words for kids to know. Be sure and remember them when you’re a grown-up.” And fast as the wind, Yachiru flew up and through the earth’s mantle, carrying Karin with her. The Kurosaki child felt her vision whip past the endless layers of rock, surrounded by so much force, but touching nothing.

Before she knew it, they were flying over the indigo skies of Karakura Town. “There. You can fly now, right?” Yachiru asked, releasing Karin’s leg.

“Wh-Whoooaa!” Karin flapped her arms rapidly, her body shifting right-side-up. She looked at the thousand-foot drop beyond her hanging bare feet. She noticed the white glow around her feet. The same glow was around her hands. “W-Whuh…What is this?”

“You’re a ghostie.” Yachiru said in her childlike fashion.

“A ghost?” Karin turned to her.

“Well, you look ghostie. But I still hear a heartbeat from you.” Yachiru’s look was quizzical. “So maybe you’re half-ghostie.”

“I’m half-ghost?”

“Uhhhhh-huh!” She made a nod. “But a ghost is still a ghost! Wanna join the Spirit Kids Next Door?”

“The…The Spirit…?”

“The Spirit Kids Next Door is for ghost and spirit children. The other Kids Next Doors don’t know about us because they’re alive. The Spirit Next Door isn’t for them. But then,” Yachiru held either hand by her face, raising them as she named the respective topics, “you’re a ghost AND a human. Humans aren’t ghosts and ghosts aren’t human. The Spirit KND is for spirits, and the Human KND is for… living people. Alive? Dead? Half-a…live. A Halfa! You are half a human, half a ghost!”

“Uhhh, I don’t…” Karin was confused.

“I’m only teasing.” Yachiru grinned. “We find Halfas all the time. There’s other boys and girls like you. But I wonder what your power is?”

“Power? W-Wait, if I’m a ghost, am I… dead?”

“No you aren’t. Or, are you? I dunno! But you can change back anytime you like. I’ll teach you how, and if you want, I’ll take you home. But it’s gonna be trouble if you don’t know what to do. Maybe I’ll teach you how to use your power.”

“You’ll… teach me?”

“Yep! In time, you’ll feel like you always had these powers. If you want.”

“…” Karin stared at her glowing hands and feet. She hung in the sky like a chandelier. “…Can you teach me tomorrow?”

“Sure! I’ll come back tomorrow night. Oh, and you will address me as ‘Yachiru-san.’ Since I am older than you, you’ll call me ‘-san.’ Or maybe ‘-sama’? Nah, just -san! Okay?”

“Okay. Um… Yachiru-san… where’s my mom?”

“Oh… I had a couple operatives retrieve her body. We managed to patch her up, but… we couldn’t save her.”

She gestured for two more spirit kids to fly up, using an unseen force to make Masaki’s body float. Most of the blood was wiped clean and the cuts were partly sewn back. Her mother was still beautiful in eternal slumber. Karin, her eyes trembling, slowly reached for her face. Her ghostly hand phased through.

“You might wanna morph back first.” Yachiru blushed. “But not when we’re so high up. Where do you want me to take you?”

“Th…The graveyard.”

The spirits floated to the graveyard overlooking the river. No one, not even Yuzu, was in sight, so they floated into the forest. “MOOOOOM!” a familiar girl’s voice yelled. “KARIIIIN!”

Yachiru helped Karin fly around some trees. They saw Karin’s father, Isshin, and her sister, Yuzu, searching around frantically. “Yuzu, I don’t think they’re here, anymore.” Isshin said regretfully. “We would’ve heard them by now.”

“Sniff, sniff!” When Yuzu turned, Karin and Yachiru saw the heavy tears flowing from her eyes. “I’m so sc-sc-scared, Daddy! What if-, w-what if, they got eat by a zombie, buh-because Karin shoots them too much, i-in her game? If s-s-something happened to them, ah-I-; I wouldn’t know what to do! Sniff, sniff!”

“It’s gonna be alright, Yuzu.” Isshin hugged the child close. “We’re gonna call the police and round up a search party of all our friends. We’ll get Jinta and Ururu to help, and we won’t stop ’til we…?”

They heard a rustling of bushes and looked. Karin finally appeared, her skin and clothes scratched by the forest’s natural obstacles. As she stumbled over the bush, her feet drenched in mud, she struggled to pull her mother’s fallen body with her. “Oneesan!” Yuzu exclaimed.

“Karin!” Isshin said in surprise. “Is that…”

The two approached and saw the fallen body Karin was dragging. “M…Masaki…” Isshin’s eyes began to water.

 _“Karin-chan-!”_ Yuzu clamped hands over her mouth. “What happened?”

“…She…” Karin’s heart tinged at her own words. “She got mauled by a bear.”

**Sector JP; current time**

The four friends forced their selves to retain their horrified feelings, especially Yuzu. “Well, that ends the sad part of it.” Karin said, maintaining a cool look. “I didn’t wanna distress my family even more, so… I kept it a secret. Yachiru met with me every night to help me master my powers. I didn’t officially join the Spirit Kids Next Door, but I began to help her track down Hollows, the evil spirits they fight. I began to think it was my responsibility, so no one suffers the same fate. But my Halfa powers gave me an increase in my average strength, so I thought I would be good for the normal Kids Next Door. I guess I kinda… cheat in soccer, but that’s beside the point.”

“Karin-nee…” Yuzu’s eyes trembled. The older twin could tell it was not because of the memory, but it was a look of hurt and betrayal. “Why…”

“Because, I didn’t want you guys to make a big deal out of it. Aside from the everyday missions, you guys are always going through something like Yuzu’s chores, Jinta’s manhood, or Kodama’s… insane nature.” The fireworks expert shrugged. “We just get so stressed every day, and at the end, all we need is a good night’s sleep so we’ll be ready to take on more tomorrow. And before you ask, I still sleep fine; I don’t gotta go out EVERY night.”

“Humph.” Jinta stood up and proceeded to walk away.

“What? Bored?” Karin remarked.

Jinta stopped, but didn’t turn around. “…Always yelling at me to follow your orders? Huh. I don’t have a shred of respect for you as my leader, anymore. What kind of leader blows off her team to hang with super cool GHOST PEOPLE?!” The boy whipped around and chucked his baseball at Karin, which she caught easily. “We’re not cool enough to know about it, is that it?! You’re embarrassed by us! It’s a wonder you never get tired when we fight, you have an unfair advantage and you like to TROLL ME! All you’re doing is TEASING us!”

His words made Ururu think back on their own talk. Karin replied, “Jinta, listen to yourself for a second and you’ll hear how stupid you sound.”

“No, I’m not. Because you don’t trust us enough to let us in. You don’t CARE enough about us! You’re just…!” Jinta stomped a foot, “selfish! And I don’t want you as our leader, anymore.” Jinta turned and sat on the floor. “When I turn back around, I want to be out of this treehouse. You got it?”

“Jinta, I’m not going anywhere. I’m still you guys’ leader, and you need me.”

“BUT YOU DON’T NEED US, DO YOU?!” he turned his head and yelled.

“Of course I do! I just… I don’t want you guys to exhaust yourselves more than we do!”

“Oh, so NOW it’s ‘we’?” Jinta questioned.

“YES, because we… ugh!” Karin smacked her forehead.

“Karin-san.” Kodama stood up and faced her leader with a stern look. “If you really don’t want us to get involved with this whole thing and let you worry about it… then we won’t.” She returned to the couch and lied on her back, resting her head on her hands. “We’ll mind our own business and forget you ever said anything. Our lives can go on the normal routine. You with me, guys?”

Karin raised a brow at this. She looked around, expecting an answer from her teammates. Ururu looked like she didn’t know how to respond. Yuzu was only facing forward, still heart-struck. Jinta still faced away. Karin said to Kodama, “You’re being sarcastic.”

“Maybe a little. But if you really don’t want us to, we won’t ask about it or get involved. If it was fine up to now, then I guess it doesn’t matter. Can you all agree to that?”

“…Hmm… Fine, I guess.” Jinta got up and came back to sit on the floor by the couch.

“Well, if you three think so, then… I guess I am, too.” Ururu complied.

“Well… thanks.” Karin said with slight surprise. “Yuzu?”

“…” The younger twin stood up and slowly walked toward the bedrooms. “I need to lie down…”

“…” Karin looked down in regret. She decided to take the unoccupied chair, sitting so her back leaned against the left armrest while her legs hung over the right rest. They flipped on the TV and watched whatever anime was on. “Are you guys tired?” Karin decided to ask.

 _“Uh-uh.”_ They chorused.

Karin shut her mouth, figuring that question was awkward. She sat in silence in her own odd chair position. Her team may claim there’s no more quarrel, but Karin could almost feel the tension, the thoughts they were all concealing. She thought that they should settle it completely, but felt that bringing it up again so suddenly would be awkward as well. “Hu!” A blue breath emerged from Karin’s mouth.

She glanced at her friends. They were looking at her. The unchanged expressions that were Ururu’s sad look, Kodama’s curious, and Jinta’s scowl, were facing her. “Karin-san.” Ururu spoke up. “If you have to leave, you can.”

“…Right.” Karin swerved on her seat to get up, putting her shoes on before heading for the balcony. “Um… Good night.” She said before closing the door. The friends continued watching anime, showing no concern.

“Man, _One Piece_ is a boring show now.” Jinta commented. “I’m switchin’ to manga.”

“Still better than _Naruto_.” Kodama commented.

**Outside**

Karin flew several miles from the treehouse before stopping. She looked back at the treehouse, regret still tugging at her heart. She held her soccerball and stared at it; pretending it was shinier and bore her reflection. She was always afraid of the day they would learn her secret… revealing that story was hard for her, too. She cried so much back then… she was so afraid… She didn’t want to feel that way, anymore. She wanted to master her powers so that she could become stronger. She needed to be strong, as the leader of her team. She forced herself to sound and remain cool while telling that story, so her team wouldn’t believe she was still pained by the memory. But she didn’t expect them to feel so betrayed by their own leader. Maybe keeping a stern and strong appearance wasn’t enough. It isn’t a matter of representing the team as the sure and steady leader. But Karin… wasn’t sure what it was.

“Ahem.” Karin turned and saw the ghost she had sensed. A teenage girl with flaming sapphire hair, dressed in black, and baring an electric guitar.

“Oh. You’re the ghost from that brat’s ship.” Karin recalled.

“My name is Ember,” she said offended, “and I’m only in his crew part-time. I still got a band who needs me, you know.”

Karin’s eye twitched; she hated how stuff lines up like that unconventionally. “You gonna fight me, or can I just catch you here?”

“No thanks. I’m actually here on business. My boss wants to see you.” Ember smirked. “He said he knew you. And you know him. Hannibal… Roy… _Bean_.”

Karin felt that same, brief stop in her heart. The same one she got from that Nighlok, Threezore. _“By order of Lord Hannibal Bean…”_

“Hannibal… Lord Bean…” Karin stuttered. “He’s the Brotherhood’s new leader?!”

“Yes, we appointed him after that crazy business with your leader, Cheren. So I guess you never learned, huh? Well, he was pretty surprised, too. After he arrived at Panda Bubba’s hideout, Hannibal was surprised to hear your name. _Karin…Karin…_ It was the same name that redheaded woman said before she _died_. That’s what he said, of course, I don’t know what he means. At the time, Panda was quoting something that Jinta boy said. I guess it’s thanks to him that Hannibal found out. The words were, ‘Eh, you’re lame, Karin.’”

Ember saw how Karin was clenching her teeth in a forceful, furious fashion, and pressing the soccerball harder to her waist. “Why does Lord Bean want me?”

“He didn’t say. So I guess if you want, you can stay here. What he _did_ say was that _you_ probably want to see him.” Ember smirked. “For a lot of reasons. So, whaddya say? Comin’ or what?”

“. . .” Karin glared at the ghost teen. She hated her for saying all this. She wanted to tear up her molecules. But she knew she wasn’t the one. “Alright.”

With that, Ember flew beyond Karakura Town and Karin chased her under the night. In time, it became sort of a race, for Karin already knew where they were headed.

**Hong Kong; Panda Bubba’s sewer**

Ember phased under the street, and Karin mimicked the action. They set foot on the hideout’s floor. The sapphire-haired ghost casually walked down the corridors, and Karin calmly followed her.

When they passed through a door, they were in a hall where the Brotherhood villains were hooting and hollering at her. Panda Bubba, Tubbimura, Youngblood, Threezore, and Ember chose to join them on either side of the passage. Karin knew that Bean must’ve told them his own interpretation of the story, and they were excited to see the inevitable throwdown. If they were going to confront each other so simply, Karin wished he didn’t make it a show. She hated these guys. The ghost child ignored their chants and walked to the room ahead. She opened the door and slammed it shut on the jeers. She faced the thin stairway in the dark chamber.

 _“I must say, I was almost certain you died back then.”_ That country accent echoed from the throne up top. That dark, horned robot was seated. _“But I see you’re more alive than ever.”_ The robot stood and stepped down the stairs, his boots clanking. _“I am honored… Karin. I am honored to meet my result for the first time in years.”_

“UUUUGH!” Karin kicked her ball, which caught fire and struck the robot’s chest. It fell on its back on the steps. Karin panted as the flaming ball rolled beside her.

A tiny hatch opened on the robot’s “mouth.” A small, red bean hopped its way over. “You’ve gotten so big and strong. I must say, you’re beautiful.”

“Uhh… you’re really little.” Karin said with disbelief.

“Oh, size stopped being a matter a long time ago. You don’t need to be big to be strong, just like you don’t gotta be a demon to be Demon Saint. It was a title I was given along with five others.”

“Bean, why the hell did you want to see me?”

“To chat, of course. You obviously wanted the same, ’else you wouldn’ta come to see me. My bird, Ying-Ying saw you the other night. Fighting Hollows is your profession now. And I am no closer to making a Heartless. I wanted to surprise the Brotherhooders before I awakened ’em, but it seems it’s what I get for holding off.”

“But you’re the Brotherhood’s new leader, and I’m a genuine KND operative. I can catch you in a jar and fly you straight to Arctic Base.”

“Are you sure? The knowledge of your Halfa identity would be very juicy to some people. And I could break out easy. Why not just hang out here with me and forget all this work? When you get older, you c’n be mah queen. And this can be our song.” Hannibal pulled out a him-size radio and began swaying to its music.

 _“Yes, a lapdance is so much better when the stripper is cryin’.”_ There were violin strums. Karin stared blankly, but Hannibal kept swaying softly. _“Yes, a lapdance is so much BETTER when the stripper is-”_

Karin gripped the little bean in her hand and silenced his song. “I’m not buying anything you’re serving! Now, I wanna know what the Chaos Kin is! Ururu said your boys mentioned it, it’s why you want the yo-yos, so what’s this about?!”

“Hm hm hm.” He smirked with his rotting teeth. “You have no idea what’s comin’, do you? Heh heh heh… HEH heh heh! HEH HEH HEHR HYAR!”

Karin bit her teeth and hurled the bean against his downed robot. “I’m stopping you once and for all!”

“Ah don’t think so.” Bean hopped into his robot’s mouth and stood it back up. “Because you are _mah_ experiment. My authority is absolute! You shall soon SEE!”

The robot lunged over and punched, but Karin dodged left and punched him toward the wall. She tossed her ball up and kicked it at him, forcing the robot against the wall. Karin flew forth, but Hannibal grabbed her fist in his robot’s hand. She flipped and kicked him in the face to get free. Karin blasted consecutive Ecto Rays, but Hannibal evasively dodged and rolled over to grab her legs and toss her away. However, Karin recomposed, flew, and kicked the robot away. She landed on the floor and smirked at him.

“Serpent’s Tail!” Tubbimura flew in and rammed Karin from the side with the ghostly item. Karin recovered to try and counterattack, then Ember strummed her guitar to hit her with sonic waves. She landed against Panda Bubba’s Two-Ton Tunic, and the crime boss held her in place while Youngblood came to stab Karin several times with his sword, resulting in ectoplasm leaking out. Panda pushed her away, then Threezore wrapped her up in his tentacles.

“I may be a new leader, but I haven’t forgotten the Brotherhood’s philosophy.” Bean said. “We are an army of freaks and inhumans. Together, we are unstoppable. And our teamwork is superior!”

Karin channeled her strength and burst free of the tentacles, lighting her fists with ecto and flying at Bean with rage in her eyes. The robot jumped and crushed her against the floor. He got off, and Ember shot Karin with a guitar ray that prevented her from turning intangible. Hannibal picked her up and hugged her to his robot’s chest.

“Do you know _why_ a lapdance is better with the stripper cryin’?” Bean asked darkly. “It’s because tears, especially a _woman’s_ tears, are delicious.” As Karin struggled to break free of the robot’s arm, his other hand squeezed her cheeks. He was intending to squeeze out tears with the pain. “So much sadness and despair contained within little droplets. Tears are the final river that leads into the plane of darkness. I still want to make you a Heartless, Karin. I can squeeze the info of the yo-yo out of your friends later. That’s it, Karin.” Tears were leaking out. “Cry. Let me taste those salty tears.”

Hannibal stood upright and ordered, “Fire up the Darkness Cannon!” as he still kept Karin in his grasp. “It won’t affect me, but I want me a Heartless.”

Panda Bubba hauled out the black cannon and aimed at the squirming Karin. The purple beam charged and would shoot. “THAT’S JUST CREEPY!” Jinta leaped in and SMASHED the Dark Cannon under his giant bat. He swung and knocked the panda away, Kodama’s fireworks rained in and created a smokescreen over Bean, then Ururu flew in and punched the robot’s head with Tiny Style, pulling Karin away.

“Aaaah-!” Karin stumbled after Ururu released her robe collar, and the Tiny Devil puffed to normal. “Guys! How did you find me?”

“Before we answer that obvious question,” Jinta began as Ururu held up two fingers, “someone wants to say something.”

Karin looked as her younger, light-haired twin approached. “Yuzu…”

“YAH!” Yuzu threw a smack and knocked Karin on her rear. “’The hell is WRONG with you?! Not telling your own sister you’re a GHOST?! I dunno how I didn’t see it BEFORE!”

“Wait… you’re the other Yuzu?”

“Yeah. The main Yuzu is still upset, so I gotta fill in for her. Some leader YOU are.” She folded her arms.

“Karin-san.” Jinta marched up from her right. “Aren’t you going to ask us something?”

Ururu was on her left and Kodama was behind, so the four kids were standing over their leader. Jinta and Yuzu scowled, Ururu was sympathetic, and Kodama looked inquiring. The four kids she had been on a team with for four years. Her teammates from Sector JP. Her friends. “Y…Yeah… Yuzu, Jinta, Ururu, Kodama?”

Then Karin was on her knees and bowing her head. “PLEASE HELP ME!! PLEASE!” Tears streamed from her face and hit the floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t tells you guys what happened! I’m sorry I didn’t let you in! But I can’t do this by myself. I can’t beat them all! I need you guys to help me! Please!”

Jinta stuck his foot under Karin’s head to make her look up. “You’re not a football, Karin. So get up off the ground before I kick you.”

Karin got up on her feet and faced Jinta at equal height. Her face was still wet with tears. Jinta smirked at his leader, and Karin smiled back. “Oh, pardon me?” The five operatives made a scowl when Hannibal Bean spoke. “I do believe I said I was thirsty for tears. Well? Don’t I get a taste?”

Karin kept turned away as her fists shook. “You wanna see my tears?” She whipped around and pointed at her eyes, “THEN HERE THEY ARE! I’m crying because my friends are here to help me! Not all tears are filled with darkness, Hannibal, but I bet you never learned that.”

“Sigh, morals, morals.” Bean sighed. “Oh well, they never stopped me. GET ’EM, BOYS! (And girl.)”

“Sector JP, battle stations!” Karin yelled. The gang split up to attack a choice villain.

Kodama placed fireworks down and launched them at Panda Bubba, but his “Two-Ton Tunic!” provided a perfect defense against the explosives. Kodama pulled out her bazooka and blasted deadly shells, but the panda remained tucked and safe in his armor. “Foolish girl! No powerful force can rupture this impenetrable armor!”

“Oh, so ‘powerful’ is the key word here. Then I guess I need the opposite!” The pyrotechnic unveiled a medium pink missile from under her robe, with images of a pink steam-like spirit. “Say hello to the Softwork! The stronger a force is, the more strength gets reduced!”

“But that’s impossible! (And how do you hide that under your robe?)”

“Firing NOW!” Kodama launched the cracker and exploded the armored panda into pink steam.

When the mist cleared, the tunic appeared to be in one piece. “It didn’t work!”

Kodama smirked. “Oh, look! Right when the English Patient was getting ready!” She pulled out the blue-striped, very slow firework, and threw it beside Panda. The fuse was very tiny now, but it took three minutes to completely burn. … … It was done. It made a very weak _pop_. “OOOOF!” It forced the weakened Panda against the wall and knocked him out.

Jinta ran and swung his bat into Tubbimura’s belly, but he bounced the large weapon away. “Ha ha ha! That tickles!” The fat ninja laughed. Jinta roared with anger and threw a storm of rapid punches on the blubbery belly. Tubbimura wobbled and wobbled, his body molding like goo. He fell on his back as Jinta got on top, still punching as the space he was on grew more flat. “You’re weighing this area down. You will smother in the area around it!”

The belly around that spot rose up and came over Jinta like a wave. The boy kept punching, trying to break free, he struck every area of gooey flesh he could. Tubbimura felt no pain, he knew his opponent would wear himself down. …Until: “OOOOOOHH!” Tubbimura’s eyes popped open. “No! You have… found them…” He fell unconscious. Jinta escaped from the fat and stood proudly.

Yuzu Kurosaki was standing before Ember, exchanging smirks. “This is as far as you go, brat. I call this little number my Death Note!” The ghost turned her guitar’s dial to face a skull in black flames. She strummed the instrument and caught Yuzu in its sonic wave. The girl was unphased. “No good? Well, a little higher.” Ember turned her volume up and strummed louder. Nothing happened. “Grrrrr! HIGHER!” Ember turned up louder, but Yuzu withstood the fatal force. “HIGHER!” Ember played as loud as she could… the sounds of her own notes caused her to explode.

Yuzu pulled the earplugs out. “Didju hear somethin’?”

“YARRR!” Youngblood rammed her from the side and knocked the cook out. “That’s for trickin’ me to eating healthy, ye salty-”

“SHYAH!” Yachiru shot down and sliced the ghost boy on the cheek. Youngblood held the cut and glared at her. “You need to pick on someone your own age!”

“Well, ye cherry-haired puppy, Ay’ll chop ya into juice and drink you whole!” He aimed his sword.

“EW, that sounds gross! Okay, bring it on!” The two engaged in a clash of their tiny blades.

Ururu swiftly flew around in her Tiny Devil and avoided Threezore’s tentacles. She flew as far as she could, but the suction devices had no limit. “It’s no use! The minute my tentacles touch this tiny fly’s noggin, she’ll lose her very SOUL!”

“Duh, but I thought we were hitting duh head?” the dumb head said.

“No, not her sole, her SOUL!”

“Say, did ya ever wonder why a romantic partner is called a soul mate?” the funny head began.

“Speaking of, you three deserve each other.” Ururu said as she flew for the Nighlok. “How about you suck on each other!”

She zipped over their heads, and the twin tentacles caught the leader’s and joking head’s faces. They tried to force their selves off, but they sucked each other’s minds dry. When the arms plucked off, both heads hung limp. “…Deeeeh… Boss?” The dumb head was the only one left.

“Neeeflllle?” Leader head asked.

“Nwwwwweeeeee.” Joke head moaned.

“Deeeeh…” The dumb head became the new boss.

Yachiru and Youngblood’s clash of swords was too epic for description or chapter time. “Yowch!” Yachiru yelped when Youngblood stamped his peg-leg in her foot, then he batted the sword out of her hand.

“YA-HA!” He pointed his sword at her. “Any last words before I skewer yer pretty face?”

She blinked. “You think I’m… pretty?”

“Er…” Youngblood thought for a second. “In a manner of speaking, aye…”

She smiled. “I think you’re cute, too.”

“Ye… You do?”

She nodded. Yachiru stared into his ghostly green eyes. Youngblood stared into her red ones. Her hot pink hair with a cute crossbone ribbon… His adorable pirate costume and silly accent. Their faces loomed closer. Young love would ensue between them.

Yachiru swiped his sword and sliced him in half. “Like I’d ever! BOOM! Right down the middle!”

Karin flew at Hannibal, who grabbed her fist, whirled, and directed her at the floor, but she phased through, came back up, and punched the robot to the air. She swung kicks and kept Hannibal airborne, then blasted twin Ecto Rays to force him against the wall. He fell on the floor and tried to stand, but Karin shot rays that destroyed his right arm and the left of his chest. The robot switched on its rocket boots and flew at Karin, grabbing to smash her on the wall. He pressed harder, almost intending to squash her into green goop.

“It’s not just the Brotherhood you need to worry about! There’re others who want people like you. People who like good specimens. This is a cruel world, Karin, it may seem happier than 20 years ago, but evil is still a thing. B’fore long, y’all brats will have to face something y’all never prepared for. Then you will be BEGGING for Lord Bean’s aid!”

“Like hell I will, you unwanted VEGGIE!” Karin kicked both feet and pushed him off. As he still floated midair, Karin flew down, grabbed her soccerball, and sent it rocketing up at his pelvis. The robot smashed against the ceiling, and before Bean could recover, Karin shot up and stabbed her fingers through its chest. “Hado Number 74!” she announced as green lightning charged in her hand. “Ectoplasmic LIGHTNING!”

“UAAAAAAHH!” Hannibal took the surge of supernatural jolts as his robot was overpowered. The suit of armor exploded and blew a hole in the ceiling, exposing the night’s stars. Hannibal landed on the floor as the four Sector JP kids (minus Yuzu, but including Yachiru) stood over him.

“Hannibal Roy Bean, next time you visit Japan, never go near the Kurosakis, OR Sector JP! Because now you’ll see why we are the top sector!” They prepared to strike him with all their weapons.

“SCREECH!” A gray bird suddenly swooped down and caught Hannibal in its beak. His faithful spirit bird, Ying-Ying tossed her tiny master onto his back.

“THIS AIN’T OVER, you brats! I will free the Chaos Kin and save the universe! Then all mortals will BOW before HANNIBAL ROY BEAN! Uwuuuuh huah huah hwuh!” They watched the bird vanish into the sky.

“Save the universe? What’s he talking about?” Jinta questioned.

“He’s just crazy.” Karin said. “But never mind him, where’s… Yuzu!” She saw her sister knocked out on the ground. She rushed over and held her head up. “Yuzu, are you okay? Please wake up!”

“…” Yuzu’s brown eyes opened slowly. “Karin-chan…”

“Yuzu… I…I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. You’re my sister, so you deserved to be the first to know. It was my fault Mom died, and that you had to take her responsibility. I’m-”

“Chill out, Karin, I heard you the first time.”

! Karin gaped. “Huh? …You mean-”

“It was me all along!” she revealed happily. “I make a pretty good impression, huh?”

“…Hahaha!” Karin smiled ecstatically. “Yuzu!” She hugged her younger twin.

After helping her to stand, Karin walked over to the pink-haired child. “Everyone, this is Yachiru, the girl I told you about. Yachiru, these are my friends from Sector JP.”

 _“Where is she?”_ The humans chorused, looking both ways. _“We don’t see.”_

“Huh? Oh, that’s right. You guys can only see ghosts. You can’t see normal spirits or Hollows…”

Yachiru grinned and shot into Jinta’s body. The boy screamed and squirmed before his eyes turned red. “Hello, everyone! I’m Yachiru! I was born in the 3rd Age KND and was the youngest member in Sector JP. I’m now leader of Sector BOO in the Spirit Kids Next Door. Thank you guys for watching Karin-chan for me. She was a good student, but boy is she rambunctious. It was good talking to you, but I better get outta this boy’s body before he dies. … …” She stood still, and appeared to be stalling for time. “Okay, see you later!” She flew out, and Jinta gasped in desperate need of breath.

“OH GOD, my life flashed before my eyes!!”

“Bye-bye, Yachiru-san!” Karin waved. “I’ll see you later!” The spirit child flew into the sky.

“So, what’ll we do now, Karin?” Yuzu asked. “About your… night job?”

Karin thought for a second. “You know, maybe I’ll level off a little with this whole thing. I should’ve remembered what I told you, Yuzu… we do everything as a team from now on. I want you guys to get your night’s rest, but I want to get it with you. And if we find a way for you guys to see what I see… I want you all to fight these monsters with me.”

“It’s a promise.” Yuzu nodded.

“Sweet.” Jinta said, still feeling odd from Yachiru’s possession. “Let’s go home and get the ghost sweat off.” He turned to walk out.

The four girls gaped at him. “Uh… J-Jinta-kun?”

The back of the boy’s red hair was hot pink. He turned around, “What?”

 _“. . . Nothing.”_ They chorused. Jinta shrugged and walked ahead while they followed.

“Hey, whaddo we tell Dad?” Yuzu asked.

“Hmm… I guess he deserves to know, too. Sigh…” Karin dreaded what would happen.

**Kurosaki House**

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Isshin hugged his baby girl tight and shook her as he cried. “My little girl’s been a ghost all this time and I never noticed! I should be ASHAMED as a father for not knowing my own daughter was dead!” Isshin grabbed the table and yelled, “Bad dad, bad dad, BAD DAD!” as he hit his head against it. “WAAAAAH-hah-haaaaaaa!”

“E-Easy, Dad…” Karin made a sweatdrop. “I’m not really dead, I’m just… Halfa.”

“Sniff sniff, it’s okay, Darling.” Isshin wept. “You can go in peace now, because your family will always remember you. In fact, I had something made just for this very occasion. Sniff… I call it:”

He presented a giant gold statue of Karin in the back yard. “THE KARIN MEMORIAL!”

“HOW DID WE NEVER SEE THIS?!” the twins screamed.

“Well, Karin, you’ll have one hell of a funeral.” Jinta remarked.

“Uhhh…” Karin drooped. (Play “Life Is Like a Boat” by Rie fu.)

**_Sector JP_ : Cast:**

**Kate Higgins as _Karin Kurosaki_**

**Janice Kawaye as _Yuzu Kurosaki_**

**Cindy Robinson as _Jinta Hanakari_**

**Wendee Lee as _Ururu Tsumugiya_**

**Alese Johnson as _Kodama_**

**Sharon Mann as _Cheren Uno_**

**Charlyne Yi as _Ruby_**

**Erica Luttrell as _Sapphire_**

**Jennifer Hale as _Panini Drilovsky_**

**Dina Sherman as _Yachiru Kusajishi_**

Hannibal made it to Japan and went to a girls’ bathhouse to cool down from his defeat. He enjoyed every minute.

**Tom Kenny as _Hannibal Roy Bean_ and the _American President_**

**Tara Strong as _Sheila Frantic_ , _Anthony McKenzie_ , _Maddy Murphy_ , and _Ember McLain_**

**Taylor Lautner as _Youngblood_**

**Kevin Michael Richardson as _Panda Bubba_ and _Isshin Kurosaki_**

**Maurice LaMarche as _Tubbimura_**

**R. Bruce Elliot as _Odama_**

**Grey DeLisle as _Chimney_**

**Ahmed Best as _Jar Jar Blinks_**

A gray-skinned creature with orange horns waits on Cleveland Beach.

**Original _Bleach_ characters owned by Tite Kubo**

**Published by Archive of Our Own**

**Presented by Gamewizard2008**

**_Sector JP_ : _END_**

**The Grim Repoe is from _Zelda: Tri Force Heroes_ , Yachiru is from _Bleach_ , and Hannibal is from _Xiaolin Showdown_. So yeah… this happened. If you look back at Chapter 2, there was a subtle hint to Karin’s secret, and also the cryptogram. Well-p, that’s the end. So how was Sector JP? Favorite chapter, favorite member? Were they better than Sector W7? Either way, the story turned out better than I thought it would, but again, I shouldn’t be surprised. Well, enjoy one last number cipher, and see you later.**

**…**

**23-8-1-20 / 9-19 / 15-18-9-7-9-14-1-12, / 23-8-1-20 / 19-20-1-25-19 / 20-8-5 / 19-1-13-5?**

**20-8-5-19-5 / 1-18-5 / 17-21-5-19-20-9-15-14-19 / 9-14 / 20-8-9-19 / 7-1-13-5**

**9-6 / 20-8-5-19-5 / 23-15-18-12-4-19 / 19-8-15-21-12-4 / 9-14-20-5-18-1-3-20**

**20-8-5-18-5 / 23-9-12-12 / 2-5 / 14-15 / 19-21-3-8 / 20-8-9-14-7 / 1-19 / 6-1-3-20**


End file.
